William Buck Premier Men’s 2026 Season Preview
The 2025 William Buck Premier Men’s season was another for the ages, with the minor premiership, fourth spot and relegation all decided on the final afternoon of the home & away campaign, before Old Brighton ultimately triumphed to win their first top-flight flag in their 68-year VAFA history.
So what does season 2026 have in store? We can’t wait to find out!
ST BERNARD’S (7th: 7-10-1)
Having dominated Premier B with a perfect undefeated campaign in 2023, the Snowdogs have managed to dig deep and survive their two seasons back in Premier Men’s.
Having overcome crippling injuries to finish 8th in 2024 with a 5-13 record, they looked destined for relegation in 2025, unable to topple anyone other than the winless De La Salle between Rounds 4 and 16.
At that stage, the Dogs languished inside the drop zone on percentage, but managed to escape the hangman’s noose with two remarkable wins over finals contenders in the last two rounds.
A phenomenal 83-point victory over Old Haileybury was followed by a 34-point come-from-behind win over an undermanned SKOB, in which St Bernard’s performed the Great Escape to leap over Collegians and the Blues to safety.
Now entering their third consecutive season in Premier Men’s, Steve Alessio’s squad has developed sufficient chemistry and experience at the top level to begin aiming higher. He knows his team needs to reduce the gap between their best and worst.
“At our best we are very good, but we need to build depth for greater consistency,” said the former Essendon premiership player.
“Our overall ball use has been a focus, as has the continued development of our Reserves and younger players, so they are prepared for when their opportunity to play Seniors arrives.
“I’m expecting an exciting season with even more VFL players in the competition, so this will ensure the standard of footy is high.
“We expect to continue to develop and improve in our third year in Premier Men’s. The push to get out of the bottom half of the ladder and consistently perform against seasoned Premier clubs is our next step.”
2025 Big V representative Ben Ablett features among the arrivals at the Snake Pit, which will be jumping as always throughout 2026.
INS: Ben Ablett, Ben Overman, Jordy Farrell, Tom Zafiropoulos
OUTS: Edyn Sibbald, Mick Caven, Dom Sullivan, Joey Agresta, Dom Iermano
But the Doggies will need to click into stride immediately, given their challenging start to the season. They face both Grand Finalists in the first two weeks (Old Brighton away, then Old Scotch at home), followed by fellow finalist St Kevin’s in Round 3.
They will be the Road Dogs early, with just 2 of their first 6 at home, but that means they will be at home for 3 of their last 4 at the back-end of the season.
Steve Alessio will be hoping for greater consistency, given they won just 1 of their first 7 home games last season, after being winless on the road in 2024.
Is this the season they settle into playing consistently good footy and challenge the top half of the table?
