Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2026 | Fairpark

By Christopher Kourtis.

Fairpark start with a clean slate in 2026, as new coaches take over both senior sides.

Mark Fisher will take over the newly relegated senior men’s side as they look to take on Division Four. 

Fisher’s appointment signals the start of a new chapter at the club. The new senior coach brings with him experience with Essendon’s VFL side, as well as the Eastern Ranges, VIC Metro, Upper Ferntree Gully and Mount Evelyn. 

Fisher is just one of many new faces at Fairpark Reserve, with the club announcing 24 incomings ahead of the season. 

The influx of talent is a sign of exciting things to come for the Lions faithful.

“[The new players] know we’ve gone down, and they want to be part of something that we all build together,” Fisher said. 

The new arrivals are headlined by Russell Cowan. The ex-Corio midfielder brings with him two league best and fairest awards, three premierships and ten Team of the Year nominations.

Joining him is five-time Team of the Year midfielder and Ringwood captain Mitch Jackson, as well as four-time leading club goal kicker Mitch Brereton, who also comes across from Ringwood. 

“They’re all 200 games plus – you can’t replace that with anything,” Fisher said.

“They said, ‘Fish, whatever you need us to do, we will do that for you’. 

“The young blokes are just lapping it up and buying in.”

The Lions have done well to retain their core despite the relegation. Whilst Mason Byrne departing for The Basin is a big out, captain and back-to-back club best and fairest winner Mitch Nied has recommitted for 2026.

Nied was the side’s leading goal-kicker and will be followed by Ben Dadswell, who finished second in the goals himself. Bryce Galvin also signs on, kicking sixteen goals in the seven games he played for the club last season.

Fairpark kick off their Division Four campaign at home to Chirnside Park, before facing Forest Hill and Croydon North MLOC in the next two weeks. For Fisher, the focus doesn’t lie in their opponents, but rather in getting his side playing the right way. 

“We’ll prepare ourselves to be in as good a place as we can be with the knowledge that we need, and we’ll have a really stern test in Round One. 

“I’m under no illusions that we’ll get into Round One and we’re playing our best footy. 

“We’re going to be middle of the year before we’re truly up and running across the most of what I want to present and what I want to do.”

Although the team will go through a learning period, Fisher is keeping no reservations about his ambitions for the upcoming season.

“The club’s pretty keen to bounce straight back up.”

Fairpark’s senior women’s team will also have to deal with a learning curve as they too have a new face in charge.

Tony Hubber takes the reigns after time with The Basin, Lysterfield and SBL Wolves. Unlike the senior men’s squad though, the new coach will have to deal with much less list turnover.

The Lions have retained most of their list and have announced the signing oftheir first ever junior graduate to break into the senior team, Trinity Morrison.Team of the Year forward Sarah Birthisel has recommitted to the team alongside Bianca Firth, who polled seven times in best in eleven games.

“We’ve kept a lot of the core,” Hubber said. 

“The squad’s looking very strong.”

The senior women’s side finished one win adrift from finals in 2025 and are looking to go that step further in the upcoming season. While that remains the goal, Hubber acknowledges that they’ll learn about their opposition as they go.

“It’s control the controllables… I have seen a few of the teams, but you know they all change in the off-season as well.

“We’ll just take it as it comes and do our thing.”

Fairpark have a three-game home stand to start the season, playing off against Warrandyte, Boronia and Norwood. Although the focus is on improvement, a few early results will go a long way in the race for finals.

“Our style is going to be different, it is going to take a bit to get used to, so results don’t really concern me in the first few games,” Hubber said.

“We’re building to play in August… you don’t win finals in April.”