Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2026 | Scoresby

The Magpies of Scoresby are set to continue their re-emergence up the EFNL ranks as they prepare for Division Two footy in season 2026.

Scoresby’s return to the third tier of the EFNL senior men’s competition comes after an astonishing season in Division Three where they finished in second, only percentage behind minor premiers Donvale.

After losing their first final to Knox, the Magpies then won their last three finals against Upper Ferntree Gully, the Falcons and the Vales to secure a second consecutive premiership.

Now two-time premiership coach Craig McKenzie has re-signed for a fourth season at the helm, stating that numbers have been strong in their preseason to date.

“We've been moving along alright. With success you can actually back up and feel like you can grow on what you’re doing, you don’t have to fill in holes, you can fine tune,” McKenzie said.

“This preseason there has been a lot of that, how do we step it up a notch and fine tune our game.”

Whilst numbers have been strong, there’s been a fair bit of turnover within the side this offseason, the most since McKenzie joined Scoresby.

“We’ve certainly brought in what we believe is plenty of talent, but seeing the players within keep taking the step up is a good reflection of the way they’re engaged and the work that they’re doing.”

Two-time Premiership trio Mason Storr, Adam Amin and Samir Kazizada are some of the outs for the Magpies. Whilst Amin and Kazizada remain in Division 3 with Oakleigh District, Storr has taken the leap to Division 1 with Boronia.

However these losses have been offset by the signings of forward trio Liam Malone, Bailey Thompson and Matthew Smit from Blackburn, Mulgrave and The Basin respectively.

“We’re keen to make sure we don’t become a one-trick pony or a predictable side to play against. To bring in forwards who not only are talented, but are also super dynamic in the way they play.

“They don’t sit there, lead up and expect the ball to come for them, they’re all workhorses. It’s been really exciting.”

Young duo Jett Williams and Connor Nicoloupoulos join from Fairpark and South Belgrave respectively. Konrad Bendrups has also crossed from Croydon North MLOC, also joining the Magpies high performance team.

“We saw a couple of opportunities to tap into Konrad’s work as an osteopath, we know from playing against Konrad his personal ability.

“But he was also thinking what’s life like beyond footy someday. He said he’s interested in the coaching element, he just didn’t know where he fitted into that so we slotted into our high performance role.”

Some more talent through the Magpies Under 19s program could come into the senior fold this season after their Division 3 side made a preliminary final last year.

“But there’s a couple of others that may not be ready for senior footy straight away, but they’re putting in the hard work…

“The 19s this year won’t be two sides, but they’ll have a solid single side. We’re excited about what they can do.”

And whilst a new challenge awaits Scoresby in Division 2 this coming season, McKenzie is not heavily focused on how the Magpies fare in another new division.

“My ambition is to make sure that this healthy going that we’ve got and when we’re challenged, that doesn’t falter. We’re willing to be exposed, for other clubs to find our faults so we can learn from that and keep getting better.

“That hasn’t changed since I’ve been there. Sure enough it’s got some good results on the board, if the results don’t come up on the board we’re not going to be caught up on that, we need to just keep making sure we grow and evolve.”

The Magpies will unveil their Division 3 premiership flag in the opening round of the season when they renew acquaintances with East Burwood at Scoresby Recreation Reserve.