Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2025 | Croydon

By Josh Ward.

It’s been a stable offseason for Croydon as they look to continue developing in Division Two this season.

Under new leadership last season, the Blues were able to return to the biggest stage of them all last year, ultimately falling by 63 points to Boronia.

Rhett Jordon returns for his second season as senior coach, saying that there’s been a bit more stability this offseason, particularly when it comes to training grounds.

“We were lucky to get onto our junior oval pretty early and we’ve been able to train one night a week as well back at Croydon Oval as opposed to previous years,” Jordon said.

“It’s been good to set a base (at the junior ground), it’s helped in terms of consistency with blokes (and has) definitely made a difference.”

It’s also been a stable offseason in terms of player movement for the Blues, with the Aleixo brothers and Dermot Reynolds the only departures so far.

Among the inclusions to the group (so far) is Thomas Flood from Nunawading, Reuben Johnson from Chirnside Park, Dominic Howell from Mitcham as well as Lachlan Shaw from MPFNL club Edithvale-Aspendale.

Howell is set to boost the Blues forward line after a 32-goal season with Mitcham’s reserves whilst there’s also some returning faces for the Blues.

“We wanted to recruit a little bit but not too hard because we had our Under 19s come through and they won a grand final.

“There were a bunch of those who had some senior and reserves opportunities last year. We want to make sure we’re building from within and not just trying to grab people from outside the club.”

Among those 19s who could impact the senior group include Blake Podesta, Jacob Avery, Riley Steer, Liam McHenry and Liam McNicol.

“These guys have had some really big preseasons and have played some reserves football, which is a real positive.

“Being able to see them come up and impact will be positive. And just getting some fitness and strength gives us options which is (also) a positive.”

Some of their retained senior and reserves players have also come back fit, including utility Jason Prior and Adrian Ficorilli.

“We’ve had some guys come back from injuries as well like Jordan Lynch, he’s going to be almost like a new recruit after missing the entire year expect the first three and a half games.

“We had injuries in the finals series to Jai Mortimer and Josh Mutsaers. They’ve missed a bit of the preseason but now they’re ready to go for Round 1, which makes a huge difference for us.”

With its recruits, retained list, under 19s coming through as well as the return of its injured players, the main goal for Jordon and his team is to return to both the finals and the Grand Final.

“Off the field as well we still want to develop those younger players and not just be a successful club in 2025, we want to be a successful club in ‘26, ‘27, ‘28 with these young guys coming through.

“It’s about continuing that development of our list for 2025 and then years to come as well. That’s a big focus, success on the field and also huge development off the field.”

The Blues will take on Lilydale in their opening game of the season at the Lilydale Sports Oval.