Source :- PERTH NOW NEWS
After a disappointing 2025 season had Wanneroo Amateur Football Club relegated down a grade, it would have been easy for the players to drop their heads — instead, four teams fought their way to a grand final.
Last Saturday four of the club’s eight teams played not only for a premiership, but the chance to return to B-grade.
The men’s C1 league team and Ian Dargie colts team took home their respective flags, while the C1 reserves and E1 thirds teams finished runners-up.
Club president Craig Sadler said he felt “very proud” to watch the club bounce back so strongly and reclaim its spot in B-grade.
“It was fantastic. We’ve got eight teams overall, but having four teams make the grand finals, it was a fantastic vibe around the club building up to the weekend,” he said.
“It was mixed emotions with two wins and two losses, but I think the vibe back at the club on Saturday was great and hopefully that will transition through to next year as well.”
All four finalist teams finished the year as minor premiers, with the league, reserves and colts blazing through undefeated.
The Roos’ redemption season came after the league team was demoted from B-grade at the end of last year.
“It was certainly a year for us to have to rebuild and reset across the whole club, so we did that pretty well. I think we certainly set ourselves a task that making grand finals was great, but from a club perspective overall, the aim was to get back into B-grade,” Mr Sadler said.
Past-colt player Daniel “DJ” Acres took the wheel as the new head coach and the club set about shifting the tone and rebuilding for 2026, starting with pre-season.
“Our awards were in October 2025, and pre-season started in November 2025. Pre-season was really a case of ‘hey boys, I’m just gonna be down at this oval going for a run, kicking the footy around if anyone wants to join in’. It wasn’t mandatory, but I think we had 46 players turn up for the first night of unofficial pre-season,” Mr Sadler said.
“I think then we got a vibe that it was going to be a good year for us.”
Alongside Acres joining as coach, the club also had several players return to strengthen the club’s numbers, bringing them to more than 250 members.
The C1 premiership team consisted almost entirely of long-time players who went through the Roos’ colts team, showcasing how club loyalty makes all the difference.
“I think they’d set themselves some team goals and it didn’t really matter whether you were playing reserves or thirds or in our fourth side or in the league team, it was just one group that had an ambition to want to succeed this year,” Mr Sadler said.
Ahead of their return to B grade next year, the club doesn’t plan to simply be “part of the pack”, hoping to turn their momentum into another finals run.
“I know DJ had a bit of a three-year plan, he wanted to get out of C-grade, then from B-grade into A-grade,” he said.
“To do that, you’ve got to make a grand final in B-grade, so it’s good to have an ambition for where you want to get to.”
