Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2026 | Blackburn

By Davis Harrigan.

Blackburn came so close to its first senior premiership since 2002, with last years Premier Division Grand Final going down to the wire.

The Burners finished top of the ladder in a landslide, only dropping games across the entire season against East Ringwood and Balwyn. While the ultimate prize remains elusive, the Burners have found their tune over pre-season to have another crack in the EFNL’s top flight.

Senior coach Anthony Fagan was stoked with how the 2025 campaign went, even if the silverware didn’t go Blackburn’s way. He highlighted how well the team performed, and how good the players look as round one approaches.

“I thought it was a terrific season for the entire footy club in general last year. Very pleasing for us to continue to grow and develop and for us to put ourselves in a position to contend at the end of the season,” Fagan said.

“Ultimately, you want to be playing your best footy in the finals. We thought we had a great couple of weeks in terms of bouncing back after the first semi-final against Balwyn, and a great performance against Rowville in the preliminary final which set us up for another crack at Balwyn.

“A lot of great learnings from last year, off the back of great retention from the playing group.”

If there’s anything in the football manual to abide by, Fagan is mindful of the bigger picture, ensuring the club isn’t laser-focused on just being one game, rather taking it in as a whole.

“We look at the whole season as a collective and review that, look at ways that we can grow and get better as a team, but also have good faith and great trust and belief in our system, “ Fagan said.

“When we’re playing our best footy, we feel like we can definitely be the best team in the competition.

“There’s some things that we did really well last year, but there’s also a few areas of our game we can grow and improve on, making sure we keep contending and put ourselves in a good position to win games of footy.”

So much of the growth is coming through the internal pathways, which Fagan highlighted was both a grand final strong point and a launching pad coming into 2026.

“We had 14 juniors playing in our grand final team, and 18 of our players were (aged) 26 or under in that team as well,” he said.

“Going into this season, it’s going to be really important that we continue to get better from within. They’ve come back in terrific condition over the pre-season, the best in my time, so that’s really pleasing to see.”

Blackburn is set to have some of these former juniors - who have had AFL experience - be more readily available, only adding to the quality of the list.

“I feel like the blend of senior players but also youth is a real strength of our footy club,” Fagan said.

“We’ve had quality players come back in the last few years, it’s really pleasing that guys like Xavier O’Neill will play games for us this year, and Kynan Brown spent two years on Melbourne’s list, he’s coming back to the club as well.”

As some players grasp the opportunity to play at a higher level, Fagan emphasised the need to keep the club training workload light, but highlighted the strength of the system and programs at Blackburn.

“It’s easy for them to come down and want to train. My job as a coach is to try and pull them back at times,” Fagan said.

“We have nine players at different VFL clubs. Guys like Patty Cotter, who’s had a great couple of years with us, gets his opportunity with Frankston, and Nathan Philactides going with Kynan over to Sandringham, so we’re expecting to see those guys take their footy to another level.”

Initially, Fagan was leading a lot of the charge in overall communication and voice, but it’s the players now leading by example, resulting in a natural “shift change” within the primary group.

“It’s more the players taking full ownership of the program and the team and where we’re at,” Fagan said.

“We’ve had a little bit of a cultural shift from when I first started, with some guys who are now really experienced and a little bit of change in leadership last year as well. New guys have come through and really taken full ownership of this team and where they want to go.

“The leaders are the ones that have set the standard for the way we train, the way we prepare and the way we play on the weekend, so that’s really encouraging.”

Kade Answerth is set to lead the Burners again, having passed 50 club games last season. He’ll have a terrific group behind him that is only growing in both stature and confidence.

“We’re just finalising the leadership group, it’ll be relatively similar, and Kade does a terrific job as captain, which is really well supported from Toby Wooller and Mackenzie Doreian,” Fagan said.

“These guys have done a hell of a job leading our club and they play with great spirit, they play with great energy and they’re all team first players which is really important.”

Speed has also become an essential part of any team’s dynamic - the capacity to execute a game plan even more so. Ball movement, in particular, has been one facet of the Burners game really coming to life.

“We’ve become one of the best transition teams in the comp, our ability to transition the ball from our back half to our front half is really important, but it’s set up off the back of good defence,” Fagan said.

“We’ve got good growth from a contest and defensive point of view, so we can continue to work on those elements of the game, but making sure that when we do go forward, we’re really dangerous in our front half.”

Premier division was hotly contested last year, as some sides made noticeable improvements. With South Belgrave joining the premier fold in 2026, it’s going to be more imperative that sides are delivering a standard of football capable of banking wins.

“Even though we won 16 games last year, I thought it was a really even competition. You had to be at your best to win week in week out,” Fagan said.

“It was good to see the emergence of Berwick last year, I thought they took some significant steps forward. 

“The competition’s just going to become more even this year. If you don’t play your best footy on game day, then it’s going to be really hard to get four points.”

As for facing South Belgrave, Blackburn don’t have to worry about that too much until the middle of the season.

“I’ve got to learn a lot about them, but we’ve got until round nine to find out what we can about them,” Fagan said.

After Balwyn on Good Friday, Blackburn host Vermont and then South Croydon at home for the traditional ANZAC Day clash.

New division dawn

There’s a very confident air about the Blackburn women’s side as they prepare to take on Division Two again in 2026. New coach Aaron Spowart, along with a huge part of last years playing group that’ve been retained, will don the red and black again, ready to replicate their work that took them to a preliminary final in 2025.

Spowart is no stranger to the club - he’s worked with the junior programs, and has seen many of the players on the list come through the ranks, ready to take the next rise in their careers.

“My observations are from last year, from feedback I’m taking from others, but clearly the skill and the talent exists,” Spowart said.

“They were nine and zip to start the year, including beating the ultimate grand final winners. What I’m really excited about is the core part of the group has remained intact, and last year there were three players who were named in the division two team of the year are back and re-committed. 

“We’ve (also) welcomed four under 18 graduating players to the senior women’s squad, and they enjoyed premiership success in the 18 A grade level last year, so that’s awesome for us.”

Following on from the success of last year, the team has quite possibly never looked stronger thanks to the high list retention - and a hunger to provide a club culture and atmosphere where the players feel like they belong.

“It is so important, and beyond even that, we’re trying to create an environment where Blackburn is seen as a destination for young women. If we can retain year in year out, that core group, not a single player has elected to move to another club,” Spowart said.

“There’s three or four (under 18) graduates from two years ago, who are now really shining as second and third year players, and one of those is in our leadership group.”

Spowart is finding ways to establish and build upon those pathways that allow a smoother transition to senior footy, as well as keeping the players interested in the sport itself, especially those that are making the move from higher junior age levels or after recent success.

“As an assistant coach who went through the junior program the last few years, I could see there was a disconnect between the junior club and senior club, particularly for young 18 year olds around not having the strong desire to play senior footy. We want to make senior footy an exciting place to be.”

With a change in the staff comes a shift in certain dynamics, but Spowart and the club were on top of it early to try and bring about a sense of camaraderie between everyone.

“From the playing groups perspective, from last year, they’ve got a new senior coach and a new assistant coach. So there’s a big change for them, and they’ve got new teammates,” Spowart said.

“We started our pre-season in early November, but before we hit the track, we were walking around Blackburn Lake to try and get some familiarity with who the coaching staff is, the players, and then connecting with the young junior players.”

One of the most enjoyable aspects of the pre-season for Spowart and his crew has been how committed the players are to the work and the skills, highlighting the desire to foundational get better.

“The thing that I’m loving the most and the assistant coaches and the specialists who have spent time with us have commented on, and I’m seeing firsthand, is just this enormous desire to want to improve,” he said.

“There’s not a single player, including the div two team of the years, with this attitude of not for me, I’m good, I’m okay, and that’s incredibly refreshing and energising.”

Without trying to upset the apple cart too much, the primary focus has been to pour time into working on the facets that make a good team click, including bringing specialists in for sessions to increase the skill level.

“I will say that we’re very much focused on getting the fundamentals right, and we’ve created six core pillars for the group,” Spowart said.

“I think skills development is something that’s been under-invested in across the board, and I think the players have responded exceptionally well to that. There’s a real buy-in across the group to want to improve and to get better.”

Blackburn will once again be lead on-field by last years co-captains, who will also be well supported by several players in the leadership group. Spowart highlighted the players working with them have a raft of experience, including team of the year members and a returning footballer from the Coates Talent League.

“I didn’t want to be too disruptive after a few months, but they’re wonderful leaders, is my early observations, Kirby Hope and Chloe Veitch. They have a great voice and are very encouraging, being advocates for all we’ve done so far,” Spowart said.

Division Two is set to present plenty of challenges and a lot of new horizons, but Spowart is looking forward to what the season has in store.

“Montrose looks like a wonderful rival that’s had some great matches for a number of years, I expect they’ll certainly be in the mix again. There’s a new club with Park Orchards who have jumped in (with) their seconds team, so I’m really interested to know how they go,” he said.

“There’s no reason why I can’t imagine it’s going to be anything but a really tight competition, and there’s not going to be much in it between top and bottom when the season’s done.”

Blackburn will open their season at home before another game hosting 2025 Division Three Premiers Heathmont on ANZAC Day, and it’s something the coach and the team are preparing well for, including a practice match against Balwyn on Good Friday.

“I’m super excited about round one at Morton Park on the 18th of April when we open our account with Beaconsfield. Really, I am focused on each week, and keeping the list fit, developing and healthy,” Spowart said