Not sure where Ava Seton is going. We definitely need to be recruiting well for the VFLW side as well.
Agreed, despite some big outs we've kept most of our best 23 from last season. And while I hesitate to make optimistic predictions after thinking we were set to make finals last season, I am tentatively optimistic about the recruiting so far. On paper it looks like we should have a good midfield group again even with Hooper retiring and Lazzaro off to Werribee. It also looks like we should be able to improve at the wing position, as well as covering for the loss of Watson.
Kai Dimattina, Lachie Rankin, and James Van Es have all re-signed. Rankin of course was a must-sign, and it's good to keep Van Es and Dimattina as well. We've officially retained most of last season's defence, which performed pretty well overall.
James Lugsdin and Oliver Sestan are the latest new signings. Lugsdin played for the Giants' VFL side last season and in 2024 was playing for Sydney's VFL side. In his 26 VFL games so far, he's kicked 27.6, so he's been pretty accurate.
Sestan was just delisted by Melbourne after 3 years on their AFL list. He played as a key forward in his junior days and in his first two seasons at Casey before being moved to halfback for 2025. His 2025 season was interrupted by a hamstring injury and then a facial injury, but looking around online to see what Melbourne supporters have to say about him, I see praise for his field kicking and some surprise that he was delisted. So that sounds promising.
Tom Hofert has moved to Frankston. On the one hand, that's not a huge surprise since he only played 6 games for us last season, and if I had to choose between him and Sam Grant, Grant would have been the one I was most concerned to retain. On the other hand, with AJ Kuol Mun and Jimmy Miller both gone, this is not the ideal time to lose anyone who can ruck. Well, we will see what happens with recruiting. That's true that we likely won't hear more about rucks until after the draft.
This brings us to 26 players retained, 8 new signings, and 9 departures (though perhaps I should stop counting Wanganeen here, as if he did leave midseason he'd have been replaced then). Are VFL list sizes still set at 44? If so we have 10 spots left to be filled by re-signings or new recruits.
Best of luck to Harvey Hooper who has signed with the GWS Giants for 2026.
My understanding is that his partner has employment up there so Hoops decided to make the move up north.
Spiny, if 10 spots are available, the club must really focus on experienced and developed players if we are to be a genuine chance of playing finals. The same goes for our ruck options as we have talked about since the departure of Miller and AJ. I'd like to see a couple of major signibgs before the Christmas break if we are going to develop a cohesive playing group and game plan.
You'll be happy with the latest signing Northport assuming that word on Bay st is correct, shoukd hear some news in the coming days buf I think you'll agree midfield will be complete after the latest signing whose a very experienced ex AFL player but as you said a heap of importance on targeting specific positions now. I'll go one step further and say we shoukd be targeting 2 quality ruckman as they are injury prone. What about Bendendk - I haven't heard that he has resigned ?
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
Since my last post Fraser Rosman and Tom Highmore have both re-signed, which is great news that means we've re-signed all of last season's defenders. Hoping to see Highmore and Graham as the ones who take on the best opposition key forwards in the coming season.
Midfielder Matt O'Brien is a new signing. Last season he played 4 VFL games for Collingwood and also played for St Paul's in the SNFL, winning the club best and fairest.
That takes us to 28 players retained, 9 new signings, and 9 departures, leaving 7 list spots still open. (again, assuming list sizes are still capped at 44 for the coming season, which I don't know for sure).
Mega, I guess you're referring to the rumors of Ben Hobbs signing with us? No surprise that we're likely to get another ex-Essendon player. The big knock on him at AFL level was that he could only play midfield but was too slow to be an AFL-calibre midfielder, but in the VFL he should be a very good clearance player and his (lack of) speed shouldn't be a problem to the same extent if at all. I recall seeing Charlie Lazzaro described as too slow for AFL, and while I don't expect Hobbs to be precisely the same type of midfielder as Lazzaro, he ought to be a strong addition to our midfield.
[Edited to add: I put in the name since there are now public reports referring to Hobbs by name, but it now occurs to me that perhaps you left out the name so the thread wouldn't be cluttered with incorrect names if the reports are wrong. If the reports turn out to be incorrect I'll come back and try to edit the post with a strikethrough on the above paragraph.]
If the reports of a Hobbs signing are accurate, that takes us to 10 new signings and 6 list spots remaining. Agreed that our midfield group looks good for next season. While I hesitate to make optimistic predictions after being wrong last season, I am tentatively pleased with how the defence and midfield look. We seem to have pretty solid depth in both of those areas now.
There has been no announcement yet about Dom Bedendo, but I believe I've recognized him in multiple photo sets and videos that have been posted on the club's Facebook page. That said, I am very bad at recognizing people, so it is possible that I am wrong. If anyone better at recognizing people would like to check, I believe he's in the video asking players who they think will win the AFLW grand final and the set of photos of players with red or yellow Sherrins (asking people to comment on which colour they prefer), wearing the number 1 jumper in both cases (and some others, but those are the ones I remember without checking). I certainly hope we've kept him.
If we have kept Bedendo and are getting Hobbs, that would leave 5 list spots. Agreed, Mega, that we should go for 2 quality ruckmen. I'd also like to see a forward/ruck in the model of Miller and 2 good key forwards. Also agreed, NorthPort, that we need to have good ruck and forward signings before the Christmas break, although it's not clear to me to what extent the timings of announcements correspond to the timings of the signings, so if we don't see announcements that may not mean the signings haven't happened.
I read somewhere on bigfooty that rucks are in high demand in local footy right now and are commanding a fair bit of money, so if accurate that's is a bit concerning for our chances of landing one. We'll also want to move quickly on key forwards because Willy are likely on the market for another with Lachie Gollant off to North Melbourne VFL and Brodie McLaughlin trialling at Hawthorn for an SSP spot (Willy have signed Tom Fullarton, but if they haven't already landed another key forward as well, I expect they'll want another one in case of losing McLaughlin).
Jimmy Miller's departure for Balwyn was apparently unplanned, resulting from him meeting a former Balwyn player by chance - this is a non-paywalled article that give some details: https://localsportsvictoria.com.au/efnl2025-balwyn-jimmy-miller-signing/ It may require an equal level of serendipity for us to be able to replace him well, but hopefully we will.
Looks like there are reports of a different and more experienced midfielder being likely to sign with us - guessing now that's the one you meant, Mega. If both rumored midfield signings take place, and if we've also kept Bedendo, and if list sizes are still capped at 44 and no one is on the injury list yet, that would leave 4 list spots. If all of those things are true, then I do wonder if we might not have done better to leave more list spots free for ruck and forward signings, but we'll see what happens.
My apologies to Tobe Watson for having forgotten his departure when I claimed earlier that we'd retained all our defenders. In fact we've retained all our defenders except Watson. Keeping almost the entire defence is still a very satisfactory state of affairs.
No I did mean Hobbs, just found out about the other one today. Was at the club earlier today and was told by a volunteer that Dom B is training and has resigned for us. Seems like we aren’t the only ones who are concerned about not recruiting to our needs, it was also voiced at the AGM today and a example given of the ball going into the forward line and going straight back out. Theirs still time though and I’m staying optimistic (or perhaps wishful thinking) that we keep those spots free to target recruit to our needs.
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
The news that Port Melbourne has cut ties with the Pokies venue at the Rex on Bay Street might have some impact on the Borough's ability to recruit big name players.
I believe that Pokies revenue brought in about 3 million for the last two years. That will be very difficult to replace with other revenue streams.
Still.. I'm mostly opposed to the Pokies so I'm happy to see the club supporting the community.
Port made a $48k loss last year so it will be interesting to see if some in field success can help financially with game day income and memberships.
Thanks for confirming the Bedendo re-signing, Mega. That is good news.
McCartney did drop each of the key forwards at one point or another last season, so hopefully that's a sign that the coaching group doesn't overrate our list in that area. As you say there is still time.
Not sure if this is the place for this question, but not sure where to ask: does anyone know if there's any sort of membership option that makes sense / is possible if one is living outside of Australia? Would like to continue supporting the club but not sure what makes sense given that I don't have an Australian address (and will not for the foreseeable future).
Makes sense, thanks NorthPort. I guess I'll email the membership department to find out if it's possible to use an international address - am inclined to suspect not, since given the cost of international shipping asking them to ship a membership pack would be rather the opposite of supportive, but if that is the case I do have a friend whose address I could likely put down instead.
Not sure where Ava Seton is going. We definitely need to be recruiting well for the VFLW side as well.
Agreed, despite some big outs we've kept most of our best 23 from last season. And while I hesitate to make optimistic predictions after thinking we were set to make finals last season, I am tentatively optimistic about the recruiting so far. On paper it looks like we should have a good midfield group again even with Hooper retiring and Lazzaro off to Werribee. It also looks like we should be able to improve at the wing position, as well as covering for the loss of Watson.
Kai Dimattina, Lachie Rankin, and James Van Es have all re-signed. Rankin of course was a must-sign, and it's good to keep Van Es and Dimattina as well. We've officially retained most of last season's defence, which performed pretty well overall.
James Lugsdin and Oliver Sestan are the latest new signings. Lugsdin played for the Giants' VFL side last season and in 2024 was playing for Sydney's VFL side. In his 26 VFL games so far, he's kicked 27.6, so he's been pretty accurate.
Sestan was just delisted by Melbourne after 3 years on their AFL list. He played as a key forward in his junior days and in his first two seasons at Casey before being moved to halfback for 2025. His 2025 season was interrupted by a hamstring injury and then a facial injury, but looking around online to see what Melbourne supporters have to say about him, I see praise for his field kicking and some surprise that he was delisted. So that sounds promising.
Tom Hofert has moved to Frankston. On the one hand, that's not a huge surprise since he only played 6 games for us last season, and if I had to choose between him and Sam Grant, Grant would have been the one I was most concerned to retain. On the other hand, with AJ Kuol Mun and Jimmy Miller both gone, this is not the ideal time to lose anyone who can ruck. Well, we will see what happens with recruiting. That's true that we likely won't hear more about rucks until after the draft.
This brings us to 26 players retained, 8 new signings, and 9 departures (though perhaps I should stop counting Wanganeen here, as if he did leave midseason he'd have been replaced then). Are VFL list sizes still set at 44? If so we have 10 spots left to be filled by re-signings or new recruits.
Best of luck to Harvey Hooper who has signed with the GWS Giants for 2026.
My understanding is that his partner has employment up there so Hoops decided to make the move up north.
Spiny, if 10 spots are available, the club must really focus on experienced and developed players if we are to be a genuine chance of playing finals. The same goes for our ruck options as we have talked about since the departure of Miller and AJ. I'd like to see a couple of major signibgs before the Christmas break if we are going to develop a cohesive playing group and game plan.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
You'll be happy with the latest signing Northport assuming that word on Bay st is correct, shoukd hear some news in the coming days buf I think you'll agree midfield will be complete after the latest signing whose a very experienced ex AFL player but as you said a heap of importance on targeting specific positions now. I'll go one step further and say we shoukd be targeting 2 quality ruckman as they are injury prone. What about Bendendk - I haven't heard that he has resigned ?
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
Since my last post Fraser Rosman and Tom Highmore have both re-signed, which is great news that means we've re-signed all of last season's defenders. Hoping to see Highmore and Graham as the ones who take on the best opposition key forwards in the coming season.
Midfielder Matt O'Brien is a new signing. Last season he played 4 VFL games for Collingwood and also played for St Paul's in the SNFL, winning the club best and fairest.
That takes us to 28 players retained, 9 new signings, and 9 departures, leaving 7 list spots still open. (again, assuming list sizes are still capped at 44 for the coming season, which I don't know for sure).
Mega, I guess you're referring to the rumors of Ben Hobbs signing with us? No surprise that we're likely to get another ex-Essendon player. The big knock on him at AFL level was that he could only play midfield but was too slow to be an AFL-calibre midfielder, but in the VFL he should be a very good clearance player and his (lack of) speed shouldn't be a problem to the same extent if at all. I recall seeing Charlie Lazzaro described as too slow for AFL, and while I don't expect Hobbs to be precisely the same type of midfielder as Lazzaro, he ought to be a strong addition to our midfield.
[Edited to add: I put in the name since there are now public reports referring to Hobbs by name, but it now occurs to me that perhaps you left out the name so the thread wouldn't be cluttered with incorrect names if the reports are wrong. If the reports turn out to be incorrect I'll come back and try to edit the post with a strikethrough on the above paragraph.]
If the reports of a Hobbs signing are accurate, that takes us to 10 new signings and 6 list spots remaining. Agreed that our midfield group looks good for next season. While I hesitate to make optimistic predictions after being wrong last season, I am tentatively pleased with how the defence and midfield look. We seem to have pretty solid depth in both of those areas now.
There has been no announcement yet about Dom Bedendo, but I believe I've recognized him in multiple photo sets and videos that have been posted on the club's Facebook page. That said, I am very bad at recognizing people, so it is possible that I am wrong. If anyone better at recognizing people would like to check, I believe he's in the video asking players who they think will win the AFLW grand final and the set of photos of players with red or yellow Sherrins (asking people to comment on which colour they prefer), wearing the number 1 jumper in both cases (and some others, but those are the ones I remember without checking). I certainly hope we've kept him.
If we have kept Bedendo and are getting Hobbs, that would leave 5 list spots. Agreed, Mega, that we should go for 2 quality ruckmen. I'd also like to see a forward/ruck in the model of Miller and 2 good key forwards. Also agreed, NorthPort, that we need to have good ruck and forward signings before the Christmas break, although it's not clear to me to what extent the timings of announcements correspond to the timings of the signings, so if we don't see announcements that may not mean the signings haven't happened.
I read somewhere on bigfooty that rucks are in high demand in local footy right now and are commanding a fair bit of money, so if accurate that's is a bit concerning for our chances of landing one. We'll also want to move quickly on key forwards because Willy are likely on the market for another with Lachie Gollant off to North Melbourne VFL and Brodie McLaughlin trialling at Hawthorn for an SSP spot (Willy have signed Tom Fullarton, but if they haven't already landed another key forward as well, I expect they'll want another one in case of losing McLaughlin).
Jimmy Miller's departure for Balwyn was apparently unplanned, resulting from him meeting a former Balwyn player by chance - this is a non-paywalled article that give some details: https://localsportsvictoria.com.au/efnl2025-balwyn-jimmy-miller-signing/ It may require an equal level of serendipity for us to be able to replace him well, but hopefully we will.
Looks like there are reports of a different and more experienced midfielder being likely to sign with us - guessing now that's the one you meant, Mega. If both rumored midfield signings take place, and if we've also kept Bedendo, and if list sizes are still capped at 44 and no one is on the injury list yet, that would leave 4 list spots. If all of those things are true, then I do wonder if we might not have done better to leave more list spots free for ruck and forward signings, but we'll see what happens.
My apologies to Tobe Watson for having forgotten his departure when I claimed earlier that we'd retained all our defenders. In fact we've retained all our defenders except Watson. Keeping almost the entire defence is still a very satisfactory state of affairs.
No I did mean Hobbs, just found out about the other one today. Was at the club earlier today and was told by a volunteer that Dom B is training and has resigned for us. Seems like we aren’t the only ones who are concerned about not recruiting to our needs, it was also voiced at the AGM today and a example given of the ball going into the forward line and going straight back out. Theirs still time though and I’m staying optimistic (or perhaps wishful thinking) that we keep those spots free to target recruit to our needs.
17 PREMIERSHIPS, 19 X Runners up
THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
I'M PORT MELBURNE BORN, I'M PORT MELBOURNE BRED, I'LL BE PORT UNTIL I'M DEAD!!!
The news that Port Melbourne has cut ties with the Pokies venue at the Rex on Bay Street might have some impact on the Borough's ability to recruit big name players.
I believe that Pokies revenue brought in about 3 million for the last two years. That will be very difficult to replace with other revenue streams.
Still.. I'm mostly opposed to the Pokies so I'm happy to see the club supporting the community.
Port made a $48k loss last year so it will be interesting to see if some in field success can help financially with game day income and memberships.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Thanks for confirming the Bedendo re-signing, Mega. That is good news.
McCartney did drop each of the key forwards at one point or another last season, so hopefully that's a sign that the coaching group doesn't overrate our list in that area. As you say there is still time.
Not sure if this is the place for this question, but not sure where to ask: does anyone know if there's any sort of membership option that makes sense / is possible if one is living outside of Australia? Would like to continue supporting the club but not sure what makes sense given that I don't have an Australian address (and will not for the foreseeable future).
Your best option Spiny is probably...
https://am.ticketmaster.com/portmelbournefc/buy/borough-army
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Makes sense, thanks NorthPort. I guess I'll email the membership department to find out if it's possible to use an international address - am inclined to suspect not, since given the cost of international shipping asking them to ship a membership pack would be rather the opposite of supportive, but if that is the case I do have a friend whose address I could likely put down instead.
Pages