Premier C Men’s Season Preview

This week, hostilities resume in the VAFA’s Premier C Men’s competition. The league’s promotion and relegation system means 40% of this year’s teams played elsewhere last season, engendering excitement among fans, and a healthy caution among coaches.

The two promoted sides, Prahran and Parkside, will meet in Round 2, in a rematch of September’s Division 1 Grand Final, where Prahran was victorious.

PRAHRAN

The Two Blues enjoyed a dominant 2024 campaign, producing 14 straight wins on their way to Division 1 supremacy.

When asked about his expectations for Prahran’s first Premier C season under his tutelage, Coach Craige Milward insisted his side are ‘not here to make up the numbers’.

“(Our goals) go beyond solidifying a place in the division,” he said. “We want to be there at the pointy end.”

Prahran’s recruitment looks to support these ambitions. Ex-Mansfield leaders Patrick Marks and Josh Stefanutti, and three-time MPFNL premiership player Ryan Smyth, will grace Toorak Park for the first time, complementing the quartet of Division 1 Team of the Year members who have re-committed for season 2025.

PARKSIDE

Also possessing four Division 1 Team of the Year members is Parkside, whose seldom-seen rise has them hunting a fourth consecutive promotion.

Important to Coach Rick Frost is the development of his players as people, and his team as a pillar of its community, believing ideals have a direct correlation to on-field fortunes.

“Success is helping our players reach their individual goals at Parkside… reaching player potential as individuals and as a club is more than enough,” said Frost.

Frost alludes to player-driven standards propelling Parkside’s rise, with ‘vital behaviours’ (winning tackle and inside 50 counts, among others), markers of the Parkside brand.

BEAUMARIS

The two sides relegated from Premier B are Beaumaris and St Bedes/Mentone Tigers. The rivals begin their campaigns at Banksia Reserve this weekend.

Player retention became a focus for the Sharks in last season’s final six weeks, with skipper Callum Linehan and his fellow leaders driving a culture that ensured players wanted to remain at the club. Coach Josh Bourke hopes selection integrity will inform his side’s chances in 2025, after previously adopting a flexibility in this space, due to numbers. Bourke is buoyed by the returns of Joels Cusack and Di Natale, and Josh Trew.

ST BEDES/MENTONE TIGERS

Tigers Coach Brad Berry has spent the pre-season adding layers to the Tigers’ game plan. Berry deems the experience his midfield gained against VFL-standard counterparts last season ‘invaluable’. This experience enabled further tactical complexity to be implemented.

“After our Round 2 loss to Trinity, we refocused our attention on ‘game success indicators’ rather than wins and losses,” said Berry.

“We want a method that makes us hard to play against, with a focus on winning the ball back, and being punishing on turnover,” he explained.

Backman Zac Calvez carved out a place for himself in the Premier B Team of the Year last season, and Berry believes there is further growth in his stalwart.

“His rebounding and intercepting remain as good as or better than most at the level,” doted Berry. Other Tigers to watch include leaders Lachlan Palfrey and Matt Lehpamer, both of whom, Berry says, presented in elite condition this pre-season.

GLEN EIRA/OLD MCKINNON

New Gryphons coach Guy Martyn has centred his first pre-season around defence. Glen Eira/Old McKinnon conceded the most points of any non-relegated club last season, but Martyn says his side are aiming for finals – growth, after a mid-table finish.

Early in his tenure, Martyn noticed ‘innate hunters of the footy’ in his side, and complementing this contest prowess with better utilisation of space has been another focus of the Gryphons’ pre-season.

Martyn believes improvement from young players like Nick Mavropoulos and Tom Noonan, and a clean bill of health for the likes of Ben Reid and Rhett Weidemann will see his side carry the late-season momentum they manufactured in 2024, into 2025.

AJAX

Injury cruelled the Jackas, come last year’s finals series, surely leaving a sense of unfulfillment amongst the group after a stellar 15-win home and away campaign.

2024 Team of the Year representative Richie Simon is unlikely to feature in 2025, due to an achilles injury, with finding a way to replace his 70-goal contribution to be a priority for new Coach Lachlan Buszard. Buszard estimates 500 games of experience have been rendered unavailable through injury, retirement and travel.

Needle-movers Kane Nissenbaum and Jordan Cohen will look to build on strong 2024 form, amidst the spate of absences facing AJAX.

PARKDALE VULTURES

The Parkdale Vultures were responsible for the Jackas’ semi-final defeat, and coach Owen Lalor says his club are not shirking expectation after their preliminary final berth.

“We expect to make top four. We want to shake this thing,” he said.

Lalor loves the pre-seasons of young guns Ollie Green, Jack Cheep and Nathan Sullivan, who has been promoted to the side’s vice-captaincy after a best and fairest season at just 19. An array of players between 21 and 25 also excite Lalor, as he looks internally to replace the production of the outgoing Charlie Yee and Josh Stolp.

MARCELLIN

The Marcellin boys have pleased second-year coach Bernie Dineen with their application this pre-season. Personnel adjustments were necessary, but Dineen believes that few players leaving for greener footballing pastures speaks to the culture brewing in Bulleen.

Headlining the changes is the loss of Ollie Stapleton, but Dineen believes stoppage weapons Adam Tomaro, Patrick Howe and Matthew Capetola can pick up this slack.

Dineen has subjected his charges to a contest focus over the summer, with forward-half defensive pressure and territory dominance, pillars of his gameplan. Key to their fortunes will be finding consistency, with Dineen conceding the Eagles’ best and worst were too far apart last season.

MAZENOD

Also hunting consistent results will be Mazenod, after finishing last season three wins adrift of a finals berth. Eight of their nine losses came against the top four, and in a worrying trend for coach Peter Banfield, his side’s average losing margin against the four finalists nudged 60 points.

A largely unchanged list, headlined by Matthew Fewings, will look to bridge this gap.

“We just want to be consistent and competitive,” said Banfield, who praised his team’s fitness ahead of another Premier C tilt for the fifth-year coach.

PEGS

First-year PEGS coach Rob Kerr is impressed with how quickly his side has embraced his gameplan.

“Focus has been on building run and overlap into our game…it wasn’t core to the way PEGS played in recent years,” he said.

“The flipside is you can be hurt by turnover, so we’ve focused on defending the ground as the ball moves forward. Based on the two practice matches, the group is getting the hang of it quicker than expected.”

PEGS welcome ruckman Ade Antikola, and forwards Matt Barake and Luke Webber, but lose defenders Riley MacDonald and Sahand Ghasimzadeh. Injury will play a part in PEGS’ early season story, but Kerr is confident the side’s young brigade is ready to be called upon.

“The exuberance of youth is a great thing if you can direct it appropriately. That (age) group had strong pre-seasons. They will get every chance to cement themselves a spot in the seniors,” said Kerr.