William Buck Premier Men’s Season Preview – PART 2

The William Buck Premier Men’s competition is set to dazzle again in 2025.

Let’s take a closer look at the Top 5 teams from 2024 as they get set for action:

OLD SCOTCH (2024 Premiers: Finished 3^rd (12-6); Won 1SF, Prelim & Grand Final)

The Cardinals timed their run to perfection in 2024, peaking at precisely the right time to end a well-publicised 46-year top-flight premiership drought.

“As coaches, we had strong belief in our group,” said senior coach Mark Gnatt.

“We had a few list changes coming in and needed continuity. We knew we were capable, and as the season rolled on, the boys started to believe it too. The more games we played together, the better we got and the results showed that when we got on a run.”

The Cards won 12 of their last 14 matches as their connection, depth and high-possession game proved too much for the competition to handle.

VFL recruiters duly noted their success, who signed 15 Cardinals to VFL lists, including gun forward Tyler Sellers, who returns to the club after a stint on North Melbourne’s AFL list.

That double-edged sword of VFL selection looms as the biggest unknown of the entire William Buck Premier Men’s season. Plenty of responsibility will fall onto their next tier if most top-liners play VFL on any given weekend.

Fortunately, Old Scotch have enviable depth, when you consider that their all-conquering premiership line-up didn’t feature the likes of Aiden Frenetic, Isaac Conway, Brodie Easton and Connor Goodison, who will be hungry for a taste of success in 2025.

Then throw in some fresh talent, such as exciting young forward Jake Torney from Kyabram, and Sam Woods, fresh off winning Old Camberwell’s Under 19 Best & Fairest, and there’s every reason to expect the Cards to be squarely in the hunt for back-to-back crowns.

OLD BRIGHTON (Finished 1^st (16-2), won 2SF & lost Grand Final)

The Tonners were pace-setters all season to finish the home & away season 3.5 games clear on top.

But the minor premiership didn’t translate to the club’s first top-tier flag after they fell short of the Cards on Grand Final Day.

“If you smell the roses, we ultimately won 17 of our 20 matches, so it was an incredibly successful season,” said senior coach, Marcel Bruin.

His focus quickly turned to identifying the vulnerabilities Old Scotch exploited.

“We were underdone in our key backs, and their key forwards got hold of us. Sam Flockart had a great year as an undersized ruck, but they also got us there. We were skinny in those two areas, and it came home to roost on Grand Final Day.

“So, we’ve already addressed those areas for 2025. Darcy Gilbert, who played the first half of 2024 before getting injured at work, returns to slot into the key defensive role, so we’ll be more cohesive as a defensive unit. Plus, we’ve got Sam’s older brother Felix back to boost our ruck stocks. Two key needs filled.

“We’ve also got Luca Macnab and Jamie Hope full-time.

“We have a great mindset and attitude, so the base is there for us to continue to work on. Yes, the end to 2024 was a huge disappointment, but there’s no lingering negativity. I don’t think any of them are looking at it as fuel to take the additional step in 2025. It’s all about recognition of how we can be better.”

The Tonners have lost star playmaker Nick Pavlou, who has relocated to Sydney for work, and Tom Howard who played 9 senior games last season.

Like Old Scotch, VFL recruiters have recognised Old Brighton’s depth of talent, with 10 players signed to VFL lists in 2025, including Sam Flockart and 2024 VAFA Anytime Fitness Rising Star Joey Campigli.

But, also like the Cards, they have established depth and promising youngsters ready to seize opportunities, given their Under 19 Premier team won the premiership.

They will begin the new campaign as premiership favourites in the eyes of many pundits and will have a few potentially tricky early banana peels to avoid against Uni Blacks, Old Haileybury, and St Bernard’s before a huge month against St Kevin’s, Old Scotch, Old Xaverians and Collegians from Rounds 4 to 7.

ST KEVIN’S  (2^nd: 12-5-1, then lost 2SF & Preliminary Final)

Most clubs would view a Preliminary Final appearance as a successful campaign, but for St Kevin’s, 2024 was more a testament to their resilience and mental toughness after losing club favourite Michael Pisker to a horrific on-field collision that cost him his right eye in Round 12.

The freak accident rocked the club to its core, and understandably, the remainder of the season proved to be a struggle.

10-2 after Round 12, the team won 2 of its final 8 games, albeit with 3 of those losses by single-digit margins. This included a classic 6-point Second Semi Final against the Tonners that could have gone either way and would have seen SKOB into an incredible sixth consecutive Grand Final.

But it wasn’t to be, and 2025 brings a fresh start for this perennial contender, who remain stacked with elite top-end talent, bolstered by the arrival of Jack Mahony from North Melbourne’s VFL program, along with fellow VFL talents Anthony Seaton, Vincent Adduci and Sam Barnett, who played in SKOB’s 2018 flag.

Noah Walsh arrives from Sandhurst in the Bendigo Football League, along with Tom Ferguson, who captained St Kevin’s 2022 First XVIII school team.

Expertly led by senior coach Anthony ‘Plugger’ Lynch, this traditionally tight-knit group will be even tighter after enduring the adversity of 2024.

“Culturally, I couldn’t be more proud of the players and club as a whole, we had some real challenges but we have been totally united and come together to support each other through that and those bonds will allow us to do great things in the future,” said Lynch.

We’ll find out soon enough, with three of their first four matches against fellow 2024 finalists – Old Scotch in Round 1, Collegians in Round 3 and Old Brighton in Round 4.

History suggests St Kevin’s will be there and thereabouts. And who I am to argue with history?

COLLEGIANS  (4^th: 11-7, then lost 1SF)

The Lions’ 2023 premiership defence looked to be all but over when they trailed Fitzroy by 40 points in Round 18 last season. But they displayed grit and composure to fight back, win that game and scrape into another Finals series by the barest of margins.

Well beaten by eventual premiers Old Scotch in the First Semi-Final the following week, that fortnight of ups and downs largely summed up what proved to be a challenging season.

Battling a constant swathe of injuries, Collegians were generally good enough to handle the lower teams but fell short against the top teams, losing 5 of their last 7 matches against the four teams around them.

However, flashes of their best provided a reminder of their talent, such as their gritty Round 17 win over the Cardinals that saw them leapfrog into fourth and reignite their finals hopes.

Jordie McKenzie enters his second season as coach and has had a summer to tinker with aspects of the Lions’ gameplan and structure.

The arrival of Henry Anderson from Maffra, Luke Nelson (listed with Carlton VFL) and Jonty McGuiness from Sale will help offset the losses of Ed Greene, Ben Woodfull, Josh Watson, Ben Darrou and Thomas Sargent.

The Purple & Gold have a reasonable early draw, only facing one fellow 2024 finalist in the first five rounds – Old Scotch in Round 3, in their traditional Anzac Day clash.

In 2024, every other team knew they couldn’t allow Collegians to rack up the disposal count and control games by retaining possession. Can Jordie’s Lions add layers to their plan, stay healthy, keep developing their young talent and challenge for the title once again?

OLD XAVERIANS (5^th: 10-8)

2024 ended up a ‘what could have been’ season for Old Xavs, who had one foot in the Final 4 only to be pipped by Collegians in the dying stages of Round 18, leaving them stranded in fifth position.

The fact that they defeated eventual premiers Old Scotch in that last round made their exit all the more galling as the following weeks reinforced just how close they could have been to making a September charge.

But consistency was Xavs’ biggest challenge in 2024 and the gap between their best and worst will be something that coach Dan Donati will be keen to narrow in his second year at the helm.

Depth is always a strength of Xavs, given their unparalleled player numbers, which this year sees them field two Under 19 teams and five Thirds teams alongside their Premier Men’s Seniors & Reserves line-ups.

And their top-end talent continues to build, with Campbell Lane returning from Collingwood’s VFL program to commit full-time. Another ex-AFL regular Will Golds returns from Kyabram after four few years away and, speaking of the bush, keep an eye on a youngster who booted 90 goals as a small forward for Omeo-Benambra named Harry Warfe.

Last season, Harry rocketed out of the blocks with 24 goals in his first 3 games (including 10 against Buchan) so he looms as one to watch.

Throw in a handful of players returning from overseas in Julian Gangi, Darcy Fuetrill and Hayden Woodhouse, along with a couple of VFL players who have nominated Xavs as their local club – Jack O’Sullivan and the prodigiously talented Jayden Davey – and Xavs will have no shortage of talent to call upon as they look to return to finals action for the first time since 2022.

And you’ll catch MORE live William Buck Premier Men’s action than EVER before on VAFA Media this season:

VAFA MEDIA LIVE COVERAGE – ROUND 1

SATURDAY APRIL 5:

SEN MATCH OF THE DAY – Old Scotch vs St Kevin’s             

11.35am – Reserves (VAFA.com.au live stream)

1.45pm – Seniors: VAFA.com.au (live stream) & SEN app (audio)

KOMMUNITY TV DOUBLE HEADER – Old Xaverians vs De La Salle

11.35am – Reserves

1.45pm – Seniors