Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2026 | Balwyn

By Christopher Kourtis.

Balwyn’s senior men’s program enter 2026 with aims of a three-peat in Premier Division, while their senior women’s side will look for similar finals success in just their second year of existence.

The Tigers sealed back-to-back Premier Division premierships in 2025, coming from behind to beat Blackburn in a brilliant Grand Final.

If they want to make it three-straight, they’ll have to do so without some of their greatest clubmen of recent history. Dual premiership captain Charlie Haley has left the club, followed on his way out by imposing ruckman Chevy Anderson.

Senior coach Brenton Sanderson understands the gravity of the situation but is already putting his succession plans to work, announcing that Bowen Smith will take on the captaincy in season 2026.

“[It’s] impossible to replace those guys – they’ve been such good players for us over a long period of time,” Sanderson said.

“[Bowen Smith’s] got exceptional leadership qualities and he’ll just step into that captaincy role really quite easily… we didn’t really have to think about that too much.”

The new senior captain, Bowen Smith, after last year's 2025 Grand Final win over Blackburn.

Key outs call for key ins though, and one arrival that the Tigers faithful can be excited for is Jimmy Miller. The 195cm forward finished third in Port Melbourne VFL’s best and fairest and brings with him a range of other state-league experience.

Sanderson is hoping that Miller can be that key connector as his team look to move the footy forward.

“He’ll play as a key forward… we didn’t really play with a centre-half forward last year… he’ll definitely give us a target ahead of the ball,” Sanderson explained.

Miller’s VFL commitments may see his availability for the Tigers wane at times, but finding the balance with those kinds of players is no new task for the Balwyn coaching staff. While they may lose others at times, they have locked down Kaden Schreiber on a full-time basis, which coach Sanderson is already looking forward to.

“We’ve got another six or seven guys who are going to be playing VFL throughout the year... that’s always a challenge,” Sanderson said.

“We’re absolutely thrilled we’re going to get [Schreiber] full time. I think he’s one of the best players in the Eastern Footy League”.

Balwyn have locked down some of their other key contributors, getting their list in good shape before their season opener - a Grand Final rematch against Blackburn at Balwyn Park, which will be a standalone fixture on Good Friday. Amongst the re-signings are Ben Silvagni, Alex Urban, Jack Tillig and Team of the Year half-back Lachie Young.

With names like those, Sanderson says that the Tigers have their eyes on September once more.

“I think we’ve got a good enough squad that we should be able to have playing finals as our number one goal.”

Balwyn’s senior women’s side will share in that ambition too, now entering their second season as a program.

The Tigers got a taste of finals footy in their inaugural season, losing the first Division One Semi Final to Surrey Park.

Senior coach Penny Cula-Reid, is confident now that the side know a lot more about themselves and their opposition, they can focus on building their own identity as a forced to be reckoned with.

“Our first season we went in with no expectations… we were a bunch of random players coming together,” Cula-Reid said.

“We’ve done a little bit of work in terms of, now I know what the strengths of the team are, now I know the strengths of the players, really putting that together in designing a game plan that’s going to suit our style”.

Many of the side’s heavy hitters have re-committed to the club ahead of the season. Division One league-leading goal kicker Cecilia Baldassarre will return after a 49-goal season, joined by club best and fairest and Team of the Year captain Sally Lynch and Team of the Year full-back Marlo Cockerill.

“I reckon Marlo Cockerill will have another really good season. She’s done a lot of work in her aerial contest, her kicking,” Cula-Reid explained.

“Sally Lynch again has taken her ruck craft up another level. Understanding the opposition rucks and how she can utilise her experience, I think she’s up for another really good season.”

“I can’t see anyone beating [Baldassarre] in the goal kicking area… with the additions that we have, I reckon she’s just going to flourish even more through there.”

One of those additions is Cassidy McLean, coming from Narre Warren. Coming off an ACL tear, McLean is proof that the side are still looking to improve on their offense, which ranked second in the league last season.

“Her speed is elite, and just the connection between our half-forward and our deep forward I think is where [McLean] is really going to support our game plan and what we’re trying to do,” the head coach said.

Balwyn’s start to the season is an interesting one – they open away to East Ringwood before having a bye in Round Two.

Following that, their first home game doesn’t come until Round Five, where they host Knox at Balwyn Park. Senior coach Cula-Reid is confident that the team have what it takes to get off to a good start and keep that momentum going for the rest of the season.

“If we can get our season off to a good start then we’ve got the home games on the run home.”

“Coming from where we were last year to where we are now, we’ve just come leaps and bounds in terms of our structure, game plan and the confidence within the group.”