Eastland 2025 Season Review | Whitehorse

Whitehorse celebrated their tenth senior men's premiership to cap off a big 2025 season campaign.

Senior Men's

Ladder Position: 2nd (10-6)

Leading Goalkicker: Daniel Horvat (64 Goals)

Season Summary:

The Pioneers delivered when it mattered most, taking out the Division Four premiership in a great Grand Final upset.

They finished the Home and Away season with a record of 10-6, finishing second on the ladder to earn the double chance. Their finals campaign started with a hiccup against the Panthers, the side's third loss in a row to Chirnside Park.

The Preliminary Final was a complete turnaround in form as they put Warrandyte away by 40 points. A week later, they turned things around against Chirnside at East Ringwood Reserve in a famous eight-point win.

A big achievement for the group, 12 months after their 81-point Grand Final loss to Scoresby.

Best Win: 2025 Division Four Grand Final – Whitehorse 9.11 65 def. Chirnside Park 8.9 57 @ East Ringwood Reserve

No question that we were going to be picking the Grand Final for the Pioneers' win of the season.

Heavy underdogs heading into the decider, the Pioneers bounced back from a 58-point semi-final loss to Chirnside Park to win the Grand Final meeting by eight points.

Six of the first seven goals for Whitehorse stretched out the margin to 30 points early in the third term. The challenge was thrown on the Pioneers in the premiership quarter as Chirnside Park kicked five unanswered goals to level the scores. The final two goals of the quarter for the Pioneers steadied the ship, Daniel Horvat extending the least to twelve at the final change.

An arm wrestle in the final term saw Whitehorse hold on by eight points, celebrating the club’s tenth senior premiership.

Andrew Haining was the highest-ranked player on the ground, 131 ranking points, 19 disposals, 14 clearances, and 61 hit outs. Haining took home the best on ground honours.

Key Players:

Having another outstanding season, Ed Sim played a big role in the Pioneers' success this season. The runner-up in the league's best and fairest, a strong performance on Grand Final Day, and another Team of the Year season.

Jayson Fabris, the skipper of the Whitehorse side, was also selected in the Team of the Year. Crucial in the engine room, Fabris had 25 disposals and a goal in Whitehorse’s Grand Final win at East Ringwood Reserve.

Up forward, Daniel Horvat booted 64 goals across the Home and Away and finals series, earning him a Team of the Year position. Thomas Young also had a significant influence, scoring 48 goals from 16 games.

The Senior coach also delivered in spades on the field, the Team of the Year ruckman, and the best on ground medallist in the Grand Final.

What’s next?

Division Three now awaits the Pioneers, promoted after just two seasons back in Division Four. First and foremost, they’ll be eager to consolidate their position within the division.

The last two Division Four premiers have recruited well and gone on to win the decider against Donvale. Pioneers’ fans wouldn’t mind history repeating itself again in 2026.

Senior Women’s

Ladder Position: 7th (2-12)

Leading Goalkicker: Alexandra Carroll (14 Goals)

Season Summary:

The Pioneers Senior Women’s fought hard in 2025 in a very even and competitive Premier Division competition.

At the end of the season, they finished seventh on the ladder with a record of 2-12. Despite that, they proved they could match it with some of the best sides in the division, having two one-point losses to reigning premiers South Croydon and rising side Boronia.

Best Win: Round Nine – Whitehorse 6.6 42 def. The Basin 4.2 26 @ Batterham Reserve

Both wins this season for the Pioneers came against The Basin, which included a road win at Baterham Reserve in Round Nine.

Challenged by the Bears, eight out of the ten goals were all kicked to one end of the ground. Three points up at the final change, Whitehorse kicked two goals to zip to win by 16 points.

Jemma Laffey kicked three goals in a game for the second consecutive week.

Key Players:

Two members of the Whitehorse side made Team of the Year honours in 2025 for Whitehorse.

Jemma Laffey was listed at Half Forward, an impressive season, playing all 14 games and kicking 12 goals. A big time recruit from the Coburg Football Club, she played an important role for the Pioneers outfit.

Another one of their recruits and young stars, Alexandra Carroll, also featured in the Team of the Year. Moving from the Banyule Junior Football Club, Carroll led the goalkicking for the Pioneers with 14 majors, in the best on eight occasions.

Other key contributors included Sarah Cowley in her fourth year with the Pioneers and Morgan Benson in her first senior season.

What’s next?

After playing off in a finals series last year, the club would love to put itself back in a position to return to the big stage. Plenty of youth within the side, expect them to develop again from another pre-season and make their rise up the ladder.

Netball

Team by Team:

Whitehorse Pioneers (Division Nine): 3rd (9-5)

The one Netball side this season for the Pioneers, achieving a spot in the Division Nine finals series.

Whitehorse won nine games for the season, finishing in third spot to set up a semi-final clash with Park Orchards in the first week of the finals. Amy Gleed led the way with 17 goals as the Pioneers won by five goals and advanced through to a Preliminary Final.

A competitive preliminary final performance wasn’t enough to defeat the eventual premiers, Chirnside Park.

At the end of the finals series, Amy Gleed finished with 146 goals, one of the top ten shooters of the division. Both Grace Thomas and Lucy Bethune also reached triple figures, 117 and 116 goals respectively.