Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2025 | Wantirna South

By Christopher Kourtis.

The Wantirna South senior men’s side prepare for new beginnings in 2025, as the senior women’s side look to continue making strides in their progression through the division.

Relegated for the first time since 2011, Wantirna South will play their football in Division Two.

Only managing one win in the previous season, head coach Jason Heffernan says that his players are still committed to coming back and working towards a common goal.

“It’s never good to be last and relegated,” said Heffernan. “More often than not if a team’s relegated, blokes are running out the door.

“When we came together to sit down and map out this year, I think we were all kind of on the same page.”

There is a silver lining to the past season’s torment, however, as many young players were given opportunities to play and develop in senior football. Head coach Heffernan says those players are ready to hit the ground running in their first full season in the senior side.

“There were eleven guys that had a taste of senior footy – they are all senior players now.

“We have to reap the rewards from that, those guys will be heaps better. They’ll probably form the majority of our team.”

The Devils have added some valuable experience to their list to help these youngsters flourish. Deng Andrew has joined from playing in the Premier Division with Berwick, while Daniel Cromb has committed to another season at the club as he nears his 250-game milestone.

Although many at Walker Reserve are ready to make a big splash in Division Two, Heffernan acknowledges the quality that his side must face in order to climb back up the divisions.

“For us, if you go from winning one game, you can’t be thinking that you’re going to be winning a flag,” said Heffernan. “You’ve got to be respectful of the division.”

Wantirna South will play away from home in their Division Two opener against newly promoted Surrey Park.

The Wantirna South senior women’s side are searching for their first ever finals win in 2025.

The side tallied their first finals appearance in 2024 in just their second season. Despite finishing second, the Devils went out in straight sets.

Although they fell short in the end, head coach Michael Vozzo was impressed with his side’s progress.

“To lose the two finals… it was just a bit disappointing to not quite nail a finals win,” said Vozzo. “Overall, we were really pleased with our progression.”

The Devils will continue into 2025 with a mostly unchanged list. Boasting one of the youngest line-ups in the league, Vozzo insists that his side has what it takes to go a step further this year.

“We’ve basically kept everyone,” said Vozzo. “We’ve ended up having three or four of our U18s coming up.

“Our list is extremely strong… we’ve got such a diverse range of experience in our group.”

2025 will mark the first season that the senior women’s side is fully fledged under the Wantirna South banner. Entering their third season, senior coach Vozzo says that this culture is key to helping the side get their first win in September.

“Building on that culture within our club, with the men – I can see that there will be massive improvements in the support network that we’ll have within the club,” said Vozzo. “(It) is only going to inspire the girls further.”