Division 2 Men’s Season Preview

The 2025 VAFA Division 2 Men’s season is almost upon us. The notable changes to this competition include Elsternwick and Brunswick stepping up to Division 1 while Wattle Park and Bulleen Templestowe dropped down to Division 3 in the off season.

West Brunswick and Old Yarra Cobras – last season’s bottom two sides from Division 1 – return to Division 2. The Magpies and Cobras are joined by Canterbury and St John’s, who have been promoted from Division 3 after facing off in the Grand Final.

Read on for a preview of the ten teams competing for this year’s Division 2 title.

AQUINAS

Aquinas improved on their two-win 2023 season to finish 2024 with five wins, with a 38-point victory over Bulleen Templestowe in Round 15 being just enough to keep the Bloods from being relegated to Division 3.

Senior Coach Craig Glennie is hoping his side can utilise their ball movement and leg speed to play a free-flowing game this season.

Aquinas will be without 2024 best and fairest winner Garrison Asciak (Eastern Football League) and leading goal-kicker Harry Dwyer (34 from 13 games) in 2025.

CANTERBURY

The Cobras return to Division 2 for the first time since 2014 and will be led by new Senior Coach Steve Brown, who comes to the club after spending more than a decade in various coaching roles with Edenhope, De La Salle, Preston Bullants, and Mordialloc. 

Canterbury will be hoping to continue the good form that saw them rise to Division 2. The men in red, yellow, and black won their last six games of 2024 – including four consecutive finals – by an average of 41.2 points.

HAWTHORN

The Hawks finished a game and some 20-odd percent out of the top four in 2024 and will hope to avoid the slew of injuries they experienced in the first six rounds of last season.

Hawthorn will be without 2024 captain Charlie Boots but will be pleased to welcome back 2023 vice-captain Luke McCleod for 2025. The club has also picked up a number of players from WA who have relocated to Melbourne for their tertiary studies, but only time will tell whether these recruits are worth the excitement.

MHSOB

MHSOB lost four out of their last five matches in 2024 but ended the season with a 42-point victory over St Mary’s Salesian. Senior Coach Bernie Pretty will be desperate to see improvement out of the Unicorns in 2025, who have won just seven games in each of the last two seasons.

OLD YARRA COBRAS

Old Yarra Cobras had a season to forget in 2024, winning just two games. Senior Coach Nathan Monaco acknowledged injuries and player unavailability contributed to the team’s poor performance, but said that there had been a real focus on continuity and connection as the Cobras looks to return to their 2023 form.

Monaco said there was a lot of positivity around the club ahead of the new season. Luke Stacker – arguably one of the Cobras’ better players in 2023 – is injury free, while Old Yarra have also signed former East Ringwood winger and midfielder Callum Copeland and ex-Manningham captain Luke Morris.

Considerable effort has also gone into strengthening their connection with Yarra Valley Grammar, whose firsts won the Associated Grammar Schools of Victoria title in 2024.

SOUTH MELBOURNE DISTRICTS

The Bloods have had another disrupted pre-season, losing access to their ground for extended periods in recent times due to the Grand Prix.

South Melbourne will again look to contend in Division 2, but will have to do so without impressive forward Jamie Brooker. Brooker, who kicked 99 goals across the last two seasons, will run out for De Le Salle in William Buck Premier in 2025.

Senior Coach Nick Abbott has brought in Adrian Sipala from North Brunswick, who will serve as a playing-Senior Assistant Coach for the Bloods this year as the club looks to “move from who to how”.

ST JOHN’S

St John’s, who made the Division 3 grand final last season, are hoping to be a more skilful and defensive team when they face off against tougher competition in Division 2 this year.

“Last year was all gung-ho down in Div 3, and we could probably afford to do that against some of the lesser sides. But when we played the better sides, they could read what we were doing,” said Senior Coach Tim Edwards.

Edwards said the team had lost a fair amount of experience in the back half of the ground – meaning there will be opportunities for younger players to establish themselves at the senior level.

ST MARY’S SALESIAN

The Saints had a frustrating 2024, winning six games on their way to a seventh placed finish. St Mary’s Salesian defeated Whitefriars and South Melbourne, who both played finals, but also lost to Aquinas and Bulleen Templestowe, who finished eighth and tenth respectively.

It therefore comes as no surprise to hear Senior Coach Clay Tait say that the goal for 2025 is to close the gap between their best and worst performances.

St Mary’s has farewelled two-time best and fairest runner up Jason Rubidge ahead of this season, but Tait was excited by the versatility that new recruit Ed Bourke (St Kevin’s) could bring to the table.

WEST BRUNSWICK

West Brunswick will be looking to hit the ground running this season, with Senior Coach Regan Tait saying the team had started match simulation earlier than usual as part of their pre-season preparation.

“Last year we came into the season more focused on our skill execution rather than being able to put it into play around the ground… We’ve been able to hold a good level of fitness during the off-season, and we’ve retained really well.”

The Magpies will be looking to play with the style and intensity of a Division 1 side, although Tait admitted there would need to be some adjustments to the game plan in what he expected to be a hotly contested Division 2.

WHITEFRIARS

Despite a 20-point win over eventual premiers Elsternwick in Round 13 and finishing fourth on the ladder, Senior Coach Lucas Matthews believes his team needs to be more consistent after also dropping games to teams that finished at the bottom of the ladder.

A key focus for the Friars will be controlling and wrestling back momentum when the opposition gets on a roll, with Matthews saying the side had a number of games where they conceded multiple goals in row.