Tobe Watson and Sigs are gone. I think Signorello was expected from his limited games. Watson and Hoops are going to be very hard to replace. One on one interviews are soon to be had - I’m predicting that it’s going to be another tough season on the basis that we will lose further hard to replace talent and the quality recruits we would get of years gone by won’t be appearing in the quantities we were used to as I feel the lack of success will turn quality prospects away. Should we keep the same squad without improving on quality then we have a ok squad but to be realistic we won’t be playing finals and the worse Port era in over half a century will continue.
Some may say this unpopular prediction is harsh, I prefer to label it realistic but I’m often wrong with my predictions so I hope I’m wrong with this one as well.
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THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
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Tobe Watson and Matt Signorello are two recent departures for Port.
I'm very keen to see how much of the core playing group stays is retained. I felt throughout the season that we werent too far off the pace, racking up good stats in a number of areas. In the last few games I also thought that we straightened our game up a bit and moved the ball effectively through the centre.. Much more than earlier in the sesson.
Didn’t look too far off the mark your right, good but not quite good enough. Brendan expects the bulk of the group to stay on with less than 10 changes.
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A couple of early re-signings for the Borough in recent days. They are:
Ned Hawkins
Max Rider
Felix Dreher
Three players that after injuries reduced their opportunities in 2025 are hopefully in for a big 2026.
Also of note VFLW premiership player Jessie Williams has called time at Port. She has been a quality player in her three seasons at Port and won't be easily replaced.
Tom Hird, Michael Rudd, Harry Stubbings, and Charlie Clarke have all re-signed as well.
Rudd is another who missed a lot of time with injury and will hopefully get a clean run at it in 2026. Good to see Stubbings stick around after his improvement in 2025. If we're going to have a chance next season, we'll need another great year from Hird and continued improvement from Manton and Clarke - Clarke looks like quite a player if he can kick straight.
Some good news for both the defensive and forward lines there. Penry is yet to debut but it's certainly good to keep developing ruck options as well.
And a new signing as well in Josh Chatfield - not yet announced on the club's facebook page but confirmed in an article online. Played for Deer Park in the EDFL last season; prior to that played for Footscray VFL, apparently in both defence and attack, and was their captain in 2024 (unfortunately then missing a number of games that season with a knee injury). Also played at North Ballarat under McCartney. He's listed at 187 cm, which is 3 cm shorter than Tobe Watson reportedly was, but that's not too much of a difference and I wonder if they might be thinking of him for Watson's role. Sounds like a good pickup, particularly with the ability to play multiple positions.
I also think the club should pursue Caleb Poulter who was recently delisted by the Bulldogs who never quite made it at AFL level but a very good player at VFA/VFL level.
Whats on peoples wish list ? I'd like to see a fast impact full mid / rover player somebody of the calibre of Hooper to replace him (I know that's a tough find) a couple of key forwards as no disrespect intended to the current lads but I'm not sure we have anybody of the calibre of producing 35+ goals for the season although not impossible for a couple of the lads if they work hard on their kicking and perhaps a tall back.
Hopefully we get news of Lazarro and Kuol resigning soon.
On a separate note Spiny - I caught up with blackrocker abd vfa several weeks ago now as we all agreed that your posts and knowledge is top notch. Good work. Blackrocker said that your writing standard is journalist quality.
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THE VFLS MOST SUCCESSFUL CLUB - THE MIGHTY PORT MELBOURNE BOROUGH!
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Wow, thanks, Mega (and vfa and blackrocker)! I once vaguely entertained the thought of switching careers to sports journalism but quickly figured out that was a wildly impractical idea. Happy to post here instead!
Definitely agree that we need to add one or two good key forwards. As long as Highmore re-signs and is actually played in defence I'm pretty happy with the state of the backline, particularly the talls. Highmore and Graham should be a good combo down back.
It would be great to find a midfielder of Hooper's calibre, but as you note that would be very difficult to do. I've wondered if any of the experiments with trying different players in the midfield in the second half of the season were an attempt to see who we might be able to develop as his eventual replacement. Rankin, who hopefully will re-sign soon as well, becoming a full-time midfielder is probably closest we could come to filling the gap left by Hooper's retirement without finding a recruit who can replace him, but Rankin is also our best wingman. Recruiting an additional player with Rankin's skill and versatility would be great too if we could find one.
Hoping Polkinghorne re-signs as well - he's probably another 2-3 years away from his peak and is certainly not an immediate replacement for Hooper, but he does strike me as a promising player who might become very good indeed if we hang onto him and keep developing him.
Agreed, NorthPort, that we should go after Poulter. His 31.18 last season (out of 14 games) definitely makes it look like he'd be a good pickup.
Tobe Watson and Sigs are gone. I think Signorello was expected from his limited games. Watson and Hoops are going to be very hard to replace. One on one interviews are soon to be had - I’m predicting that it’s going to be another tough season on the basis that we will lose further hard to replace talent and the quality recruits we would get of years gone by won’t be appearing in the quantities we were used to as I feel the lack of success will turn quality prospects away. Should we keep the same squad without improving on quality then we have a ok squad but to be realistic we won’t be playing finals and the worse Port era in over half a century will continue.
Some may say this unpopular prediction is harsh, I prefer to label it realistic but I’m often wrong with my predictions so I hope I’m wrong with this one as well.
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!!!
Tobe Watson and Matt Signorello are two recent departures for Port.
I'm very keen to see how much of the core playing group stays is retained. I felt throughout the season that we werent too far off the pace, racking up good stats in a number of areas. In the last few games I also thought that we straightened our game up a bit and moved the ball effectively through the centre.. Much more than earlier in the sesson.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Didn’t look too far off the mark your right, good but not quite good enough. Brendan expects the bulk of the group to stay on with less than 10 changes.
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!!!
A couple of early re-signings for the Borough in recent days. They are:
Ned Hawkins
Max Rider
Felix Dreher
Three players that after injuries reduced their opportunities in 2025 are hopefully in for a big 2026.
Also of note VFLW premiership player Jessie Williams has called time at Port. She has been a quality player in her three seasons at Port and won't be easily replaced.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Archie Manton is the latest Borough re-signing.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Tom Hird, Michael Rudd, Harry Stubbings, and Charlie Clarke have all re-signed as well.
Rudd is another who missed a lot of time with injury and will hopefully get a clean run at it in 2026. Good to see Stubbings stick around after his improvement in 2025. If we're going to have a chance next season, we'll need another great year from Hird and continued improvement from Manton and Clarke - Clarke looks like quite a player if he can kick straight.
This week's re-signings:
Matt Gahan
Jack Skinner
Roy George
Tom Graham
Flynn Penry
Some good news for both the defensive and forward lines there. Penry is yet to debut but it's certainly good to keep developing ruck options as well.
And a new signing as well in Josh Chatfield - not yet announced on the club's facebook page but confirmed in an article online. Played for Deer Park in the EDFL last season; prior to that played for Footscray VFL, apparently in both defence and attack, and was their captain in 2024 (unfortunately then missing a number of games that season with a knee injury). Also played at North Ballarat under McCartney. He's listed at 187 cm, which is 3 cm shorter than Tobe Watson reportedly was, but that's not too much of a difference and I wonder if they might be thinking of him for Watson's role. Sounds like a good pickup, particularly with the ability to play multiple positions.
Sparkman is another re-signing..
I also think the club should pursue Caleb Poulter who was recently delisted by the Bulldogs who never quite made it at AFL level but a very good player at VFA/VFL level.
* It's time to restore the VFA name.
Whats on peoples wish list ? I'd like to see a fast impact full mid / rover player somebody of the calibre of Hooper to replace him (I know that's a tough find) a couple of key forwards as no disrespect intended to the current lads but I'm not sure we have anybody of the calibre of producing 35+ goals for the season although not impossible for a couple of the lads if they work hard on their kicking and perhaps a tall back.
Hopefully we get news of Lazarro and Kuol resigning soon.
On a separate note Spiny - I caught up with blackrocker abd vfa several weeks ago now as we all agreed that your posts and knowledge is top notch. Good work. Blackrocker said that your writing standard is journalist quality.
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!!!
Wow, thanks, Mega (and vfa and blackrocker)! I once vaguely entertained the thought of switching careers to sports journalism but quickly figured out that was a wildly impractical idea. Happy to post here instead!
Definitely agree that we need to add one or two good key forwards. As long as Highmore re-signs and is actually played in defence I'm pretty happy with the state of the backline, particularly the talls. Highmore and Graham should be a good combo down back.
It would be great to find a midfielder of Hooper's calibre, but as you note that would be very difficult to do. I've wondered if any of the experiments with trying different players in the midfield in the second half of the season were an attempt to see who we might be able to develop as his eventual replacement. Rankin, who hopefully will re-sign soon as well, becoming a full-time midfielder is probably closest we could come to filling the gap left by Hooper's retirement without finding a recruit who can replace him, but Rankin is also our best wingman. Recruiting an additional player with Rankin's skill and versatility would be great too if we could find one.
Hoping Polkinghorne re-signs as well - he's probably another 2-3 years away from his peak and is certainly not an immediate replacement for Hooper, but he does strike me as a promising player who might become very good indeed if we hang onto him and keep developing him.
Agreed, NorthPort, that we should go after Poulter. His 31.18 last season (out of 14 games) definitely makes it look like he'd be a good pickup.
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