Yarra Valley Water InFocus 2026 | Wantirna South

By Jared Beanland.

A disastrous season 2024 has turned been turned around very quickly at Walker Reserve, as the Devils have ascended back to Divivsion 1 after just one year.

One of the most thrilling grand finals in recent EFNL memory saw Wantirna South defeat Templestowe by just one point in the Division 2 decider.

Jason Heffernan is now in his third year as senior coach of Wantirna South, and will lead his squad back into the second tier of EFNL footy. While they are no strangers to Division 1, 2026 will present new challenges for his young and exuberant playing group, starting from the moment they hit the training track.

“It’s been good, even from the end of the season – which when you win premierships, they’ the greatest thing ever – but in in a couple of weeks our fitness person was getting phone calls saying ‘give us some programs’, and essentially they picked up where they left off, which is great. Pre-Christmas it felt like it was exactly where it needed to be in so far as everyone had returned, you get a signing, and then a recruit, and then another one, and it just felt really good. All the boys are fit and firing, the recruits have fit in really well, and it’s where it needs to be. And probably where it has to be for us going into Division 1.”

Heffernan is optimistic about the start of the year, in no small part due to multiple levels of the club enjoying a day out against Mount Eliza from the MPFNL. A strong club in their own right, Mt Eliza provided the challenge the Devils needed to assess their progress during the preseason.

“Our 19s got a good hit our, the reserves did too, and our seniors were very good. For our team to play against a club that’s been traditionally strong, has a lot of VFL players, Zak Jones played on the weekend – it was good for us to find out where we are at. Not that practice games are the decider in that, but if you have that type of performance on a weekly basis you’re feeling pretty good about at least being competitive in the next division.”

Wantirna South have been purposeful in their recruitment ahead of the 2026 season. Will Clarke comes to Walker Reserve with a wealth of experience with Sandringham and Frankston VFL sides. Kyle Cooper is a previous three-time Best and Fairest winner, while Makuei Andrew will bring plenty of versatility to the line up. Lincoln Wong will also be welcomed back with open arms to add plenty of class to the Devils’ midfield.

“If you’re going to go up the grades you need some size, you need some key posts. So Will is a big signing for us, he’s a key defender, he’s in the prime of his footy too. He’s, 27, he’s played a good level of footy, he’s played on a VFL list, and it helps up when you add in guys like him and Makuei Andrew. He’s a big fella as well, whether that’s ruck, or a big forward. Then you’ve got Chris Dennis, who has hardly played much footy over two years due to injuries,"

"He’s from Ferntree Gully, he’s another one who can play full back or centre half back, even at centre half forward."

"So that really helps out your Nathan Denes, Liam Hewett, and it just shores up your Deng Andrews who’s playing VFL footy – he can move onto a half back flank and not have to play on a resting ruck who’s taking a breath in the goal square. So that’s very helpful for us. And Kyle Cooper, he’s a midfielder who’s at Sandringham, and then Lincoln Wong back from overseas."

"That’s a few names who all fill a role in a spot we felt we needed, and then you get a friend of a friend of a friend like Tom Evans who we picked up from East Brighton. He’s been intermittently playing footy over the last two years through injuries and whatnot. He’s been playing VFL footy with Williamstown, so he’s a nice one at 24 years old.”

The club as a whole never suffered much impact from dropping a division, in fact becoming stronger in other areas while the senior team regrouped.

This culture, Heffernan says, has endured and developed, putting them in good stead with their re-entry to Division 1.

“Footy moves pretty fast, so you only have to have a portion of your players who might travel over a two year period, and if you have a gap from your junior club to your senior club – they’re not excuses, it’s just the way the world works – so Wantirna South have become a bit of a victim of that."

"So you cop it for a year in Division 1, but we had some good kids play, and they developed plenty last year. We’ve added one or two, and now we’re going up with a strong under 19s, two under 17s teams, four or five blokes who are playing at the Eastern Ranges."

“And we’re not saying ‘we’re back where we belong’, we’ve had to have a bit of a kick in the arse, a bit of a reboot, and the junior program’s looking good, and is firing again, which is nice.”

Much of the durability comes from the off field base, as Heffernan praises the support given to the player base, and the culture of retention that has been traditional at Walker Reserve.

“Wantirna South traditionally, the supporters are pretty rusted on, and if you’re a past player, that’s your club. I remember seeing a photo looking over the crowd at three quarter time of the grand final, and you can’t even see the fence on the other side of Mitcham’s ground because the crowd was rows deep. When you do have a down year, the next year everyone wants you to succeed, and the players want to do well, and the support from off field, past players, coaches, family – it never dwindles at Wanny – if we’re battling they come to the fore more often. Now we’re going up they see the young fellas, and how far they’ve come.”

“It’s bloody exciting, because you know it’s a crack division, it always has been. And you see some of the guys who get recruited into those clubs, and they’re quality players, and they’re youthful players.”

Heffernan has a mindful approach to the realities of modern life, and modern footy. The standards set at the club are a healthy reflection of what can be expected of players, and over-complicating the method is not a trap he wants to fall into.

“We’d like to add a little bit to our gameplan, so it reflects modern footy. Everyone seems to want to play the same, and mirror what we’re seeing on the telly. The other thing that we become mindful of as coaches is how much of that do we actually have time to implement into the players if we’ve only got them for three hours during the week, and obviously they play Saturday."

"So we look at it and think if we can replicate what is that we’re doing well, and with the recruits that come in – bringing that high level football experience who are cool and calm heads – we want a basic gameplan that we can implement that the players can understand in the timeframe that you’ve got with them."

“Obviously our club aspires to go to premier division, and I suppose that’s when you’re spending more money, the expectations become higher, and the players you’re recruiting may come from that VFL and AFL background, you go down that path. We’re aiming for that like everyone else, but at this point in time we have group of boys who have won a division two flag who really want to keep improving to be good in division one.”

Being relegated, then promoted back in the space of two years is a somewhat unique position the club finds itself in. Heffernan values the simplicity of having the same mindset in preseason, no matter which division his team moves to.

“It sounds a bit silly, but our mentality is sort of the same as last year, where we went back a division, and didn’t set an expectation of wins and losses, or finals, or ‘geez we want to win it to go back up’. It’s more simple in that we’re going back up, so make sure we’re prepared for the preseason that’s coming. That’s what kicks it off."

"Once you’re into training, you want your fitness to improve 10%, 12%, 15% to the workload. And then moreso with the boys, with their attitude – that they’re aware that they’re playing a higher division, so their commitment needs to be matching it. Or that they remember that the player they’re playing against is equal to them. Let’s conduct ourselves as a premiership team. We are the reigning premiers, and we’re going into a higher division. I just want our boys to not be going up a division doubting themselves, but going up saying ‘we’re really ready to be playing at this level'.”

Round 1 will see Wantirna South face off against Mooroolbark at Mooroolbark Heights on Aprill 11.

The Wantirna South Senior Women’s side has welcomed a second team into the mix, the signature of a healthy club culture and player retention. The A team will field in Division 4, while the development side will join many other development teams in Division 5.

Coach Michael Vozzo has had a long career in footy circles, and enters his third year as coach of the Devils’ women’s side. He’s excited about how this culture has progressed in the short time the club has fielded a women’s team.

“We’ve picked up a heap of girls, so we’ve been able to form two teams now, which has been an unbelievable progression for our club, considering we’ve only started up three years ago. It’s terrific, the girls have been unbelievable, they’ve got great work ethic, and we haven’t lost anyone. So our retention was at basically 100%, and from that, and with our under 18 girls coming through, and getting a couple of girls back from two years ago, and a couple of recruits, it’s been really good.”

“The growth and development has been sensational over the last two years, but what’s probably best is the fact that it doesn’t matter what age you are – we’ve got a girls coming in from under 18s, and a couple in their 40s – it doesn’t matter, they’re still prepared to work incredibly hard at being better. And that just rubs off on everyone. This year with people vying for spots, it’s only created a better work ethic which is great. So it just means things are looking really positive, so we hope that really flows into match day.”

The past couple of years have been a case of close, but not close enough for Wantirna South.

Making it to the finals of Division 4 in 2^nd spot in season 2024, the Devils went out in straight sets. Last year was more successful, making it to the grand final, yet losing to Vermont’s second side by just 3 points.

“The losses hurt, but inspire. And because the girls didn’t finish where they really wanted to, and thought that they could have, it really inspired them to come back, work harder, and be fitter and stronger. It’s all looking promising, but everyone’s the same this time of year, aren’t they? Everyone thinks that they’re flying, and that they’re bigger and better than ever.”

The fabric of the Wantirna South women’s team has strengthened over the preseason, as Vozzo explains, as there has been a strong mateship fostered across the past couple of years, and in this offseason in particular.

“We had a couple of practise matches up and Bonnie Doon against a couple of country teams, so that was good. We were able to stay on a farm up there, so that was good, we had 25 or so people up there. It was good to get away. Whilst we had 25 staying there, where still had eight to ten girls who just drove up for the day to play, and then go back. So that effort to do that gives you the indication that the commitment’s there. These girls have been Wantirna South girls for life, so it means everything to be with their mates at their club.”

The strength of the women’s side has been evident, with the junior girls program providing the Devils with a lot of onfield talent over the past few years.

“We’ve got a strong bunch of under 18 girls coming up into our program – five or six of them – and over the last four years we’ve had five or six every year come in. And they’re all genuinely very good footballers, which is terrific, and that speaks volumes of what we’ve got within our club as far as our junior club, and how that progression has worked. That’s what’s really important. That we took the hit early, and started up our senior program four years ago when we weren’t quite ready. But now we’re getting the fruits of all our labour, so to have them come in has been terrific.”

“We’re still trying to develop – some girls have only been playing footy for three or four years. So we’re still trying to develop and work in a game plan. We’re really conscious of being strong, tackling well, legally, and hard. So we want to continue that as a focus area, but not our main focus.”

The introduction of a women’s team has seemingly been a smooth transition for Wantirna South, with a lot of support being provided by the administration. Vozzo praises the leadership of the club as being as accommodating as possible for this new aspect of the club over the past couple of years. The introduction of a second team is evidence of the health and support provided to the women’s team.

“It’s been unbelievable. I can’t speak more highly or thank enough Kevin Van Grondelle who’s the club president. He has been unbelievable, and his support, his guidance – and another guy, Andy Gaedicke, who’s been our football operations manager. Anything is not too difficult, and they help us with everything. They can’t help us any more. And what ends up happening is that we get nearly every one of our girls are there for Thursday dinners, and all the men are there. So they sell 150 to 200 meals on a Thursday night now. That’s where it’s built from. That sort of acceptance that we’ve had from everyone at the club.”

“Because we’ve got a really strong list of girls, 40 plus, two teams, we’ve still got development as part of our background. But we’ve also got to progress our first team to be really strong. We don’t hide away from the fact that we want to push our way through the grades, because know that we’ve got a lot of unbelievable talent still coming through, and we want to be where we think we deserve, and where we need to be.”

 “I love it. I’ve coached premier women’s cricket – and to be fair I really love coaching women, because I feel like a lot of the women – they’ve played netball, and other things on their way through juniors – but they’ve never really had that real link. And especially with football, this is their link, this is their club. They’ve never had a real club where they can go back, socialise, feel comfortable within, and feel really supported. And I love that. What ends up happening is that we have this buy-in, because they feel like it’s their club. The girls go and watch the men play as well, so you have 15 of the girls sitting back on a Saturday afternoon watching after their game. It’s sensational. That environment that’s been created through the committee, it’s such a great place to be. And that’s why we’ve got great numbers, and the growth has been good. I really enjoy it.”

The Wantirna South women’s team will kick their season off on the 18^th of April, with their top side playing off against Norwood, and the development team facing that of Heathmont. Both games will be played at Walker Reserve.