Ringwood Mazda 2025 Season Review | Montrose

A second-consecutive Grand Final appearance for the Senior Women's, as the Senior Men miss the finals before gearing up for 2026.

Senior Men’s

Ladder Position: 6^th (8-8, 110.20%)

Leading Goalkicker: Ty Galbraith (32 Goals)

Season Summary:

The Montrose Gary Ayres tenure concluded this season after the AFL great called time as senior coach with the club.

In his final season, Montrose finished the year out in sixth, missing the finals by one game. One of the younger lists this season, the Demons overall year was a rollercoaster, consistency preventing the side from another finals appearance.

A tight division saw the Demons in and out of the top five at different times during the year. Two big wins against Boronia and Beaconsfield followed by a percentage booster against Norwood and a ten-point win over Mooroolbark gave Montrose control of their own fate.

A Round 17 loss to North Ringwood made things challenging heading into a must win game against ladder leaders and eventual premiers, South Belgrave. In a high-scoring contest with multiple momentum swings, Montrose came up three points short after a combined 13 goal final term.

Best Win: Round 14 – Montrose 14.12 96 def. Beaconsfield 7.8 50 @ Montrose Recreation Reserve

A toss-up between their Round 12 high-scoring thriller against Boronia or their dominant performance against the Eagles.

Taking on Beaconsfield in Round 14 was a mini-elimination final for the Demons who needed a win and to build some percentage ahead of a potential September campaign.

They did just that against the Eagles, extending their margin at every change as they blew out a top five side by 46 points.

Greg Lord had another big game down back, 26 disposals, 12 rebound 50’s and 8 marks. The goals were well spread out, Ty Galbraith finishing with three.

Key Players

Joining the club this season, Brayden Laplanche proved to be one of the best recruits of the year. Laplanche kicked 22 goals for the season, averaging over 20 disposals per game, spending time through the midfield and up forward.

Two of the best defenders in the competition made Team of the Year honours once again in 2025, Beau Tennant and Greg Lord.

Up forward, Ty Galbraith stepped us as the new leading goalkicker, 32 goals from 16 games. Galbraith was well supported by Bailey White who kicked 29 goals of his own.

What’s Next?

Montrose have their sights set on a return to finals footy and a shot at contending for the flag.

Riley Collier Dawkins was the first big announcement on the recruiting front, signing with the club after time with Williamstown in the VFL. The former Richmond Tiger played 11 AFL games and is a massive get for the Dees.

Since then, they've recruited three big names from Croydon, Blues skipper Fraser Smith, Riley Britton and Andrew Carter. Smith, the former Croydon captain is a huge inclusion to the defensive group, one of the best defenders in the comp, Smith has been a Team of the Year member four years running.

Brett Johnson has been appointed Senior Coach for the 2026 season after eight years with Geelong. A big appointment and with a strong recruiting haul, the Dees will be one of the key Division One teams to keep an eye on next year.

Senior Womens

Ladder Position: 3^rd (8-1-3, 202.15%)

Leading Goalkicker:

Season Summary:

Another fantastic finals run from the Demons’ Senior Womens side saw Montrose advance through to a second consecutive Grand Final under Shilette Baker.

The side finished third at the conclusion of the 2025 Home and Away season, winning eight of their 12 games. It set up an Elimination Final match-up with the Waverley Blues, a side they met in the 2024 Preliminary Final. In a see-sawing contest, the Demons finished ten-points winners to advance through to another Preliminary Final.

Facing Blackburn who spent majority of the year on top of the Division Two ladder, Montrose controlled most of the game and managed to hold off their opposition late in the game to win by six points.

The win set up a Grand Final date with Mooroolbark at Quambee Reserve. The Mustangs chasing their third premiership in a row, winning by 25 points.

Best Win: Elimination Final – Montrose 8.8 56 def. Waverley Blues 6.10 46 @ Silvan Recreation Reserve

One of the best finals of the 2025 Senior Women’s finals series.

In a game of momentum swings, Montrose and the Waverley Blues went back and forth in a game that could have gone either way.

The Demons got on top late in the third term to start controlling the contest, Chloe Jones kicking two important goals.

Charli Dobrigh starred with three goals, including the final goal of the day in the dying seconds of the contest.

Key Players:

Five Montrose players were selected in the Eastern Football Netball League Team of the Year Squad, Charli Dobrigh, Hannah Lawson, Emily Du Vallon, Chloe Jones and Tiana Witnish.

Chloe Jones proved herself as one of the best players of the competition, the Runner Up in this year’s league Best and Fairest.

Having an outstanding year for the club, Hannah Lawson won the club best and fairest as well as Best Finals player across the Demons three finals.

What’s Next?

After back-to-back Grand Final appearances, Montrose are well placed for another tilt at the flag. A young overall age demographic and a very strong junior girls program has everything aligning for the Demons to win a premiership and earn promotion in the next couple of seasons.

Netball

Team by Team:

Division Two (Montrose Demons): 8^th, 1-12-1

Division Three (Montrose Flames): 6^th, 6-8

Division Six (Montrose Thunder): 3^rd, 10-3-1

Division Ten (Montrose Storm): 3^rd, 11-3

Division Eleven (Montrose Devils): 4^th, 9-5

Division Thirteen (Montrose Heat): 7^th, 4-10

Division Fifteen (Montrose Raptors): 5^th, 7-7

A total of seven teams competed in the 2025 Ringwood Mazda Netball competition for Montrose.

Out of the seven teams, three sides played off in the finals, Montrose Thunder, Montrose Storm and Montrose Devils. Storm made it to a Preliminary Final in Division Ten after their first week of the finals victory over Kilsyth, winning by six goals.

The Best and Fairest winners for all seven teams were, Lucy Campbell-Smith (Demons), Emma Hadj (Flames), Sam Arnold (Thunder), Meg Challis (Storm), Ashley O’Callaghan (Devils), Sarah Manders (Heat) and Karlie Bade (Raptors).

The club also feature in the 2024/25 Netball Summer competition, advancing through to two Grand Finals, winning one premiership.