Wyndhamvale coach Daniel Smith has declared he has “unfinished business” as he prepares to lead the club’s hunt for back-to-back premierships and promotion next season.
The Falcons claimed their second Western Football League senior premiership on Saturday, rebounding from back-to-back losses against North Footscray to prevail in the division 2 decider.
The minor premier rose to the occasion on the big stage, with its accurate goalkicking and slick skills proving too much for the Devils in the 35-point triumph at Yarraville Oval, 13.2 (80)-6.9 (45).
“They’re definitely hard to win,” Smith said on Sunday amid the jubilation after the club added to its maiden division 2 flag in 2015.
“Talking to a few of the older boys, they’ve played in five or six losing prelims.
“You’ve just got to enjoy it because it might be your last one.”
While the club secured hard-earned silverware, it will remain in division 2 in 2026.
Sunshine, Albion and Newport were promoted to the top flight this year, with the league pushing pause on any changes to the senior grades.
The Falcons also lost to North Footscray by eight points in the reserves grand final.
“I think the boys are even hungrier now that they’ve tasted it,” first-year coach Smith said.
“The drive from the reserves boys unfortunately going down by (eight) points, they want to win it next year as well.
“The drive from the club is fantastic. I’ll let them have a week (off), and then we’ll start talking about next year.
“I’ve still got some unfinished business. I want to leave this club in a much better place than when I arrived.”
Smith said the Falcons had recruited with an eye to 2026 and a potential spot in division 1 by 2027.
But he is acutely aware all the hard work will start again once the premiership celebrations end.
“We went out with the goal of getting a younger age demographic and building a team to next year hopefully win it again. I can say again now,” Smith said.
“Then (we can) go up to div 1 with 18 months, two years of kids really developing and being good footballers. Then you don’t have to go out and recruit as heavily hopefully.
“We’ve just got to keep the confidence and reinforce that you can get better.
“All the other teams are going to catch up to us if we take the foot off the pedal.”
Wyndhamvale led at every change in the grand final, icing a superb season with a nine-goal-to-four second half.
Falcons star Jack Tessari capped a standout season by winning the medal for best afield.
“He had a fantastic year, and he stepped up in the final. It was hard to pick who was best, but Jack was definitely one of the handful that I thought would get it,” Smith said.
Spearhead Lewis Stanton booted six goals to finish the season with 125 majors.
Remarkably, Stanton kicked at least one goal in each of his 21 games. He was held to three goals in the opening two weeks of finals before finishing with another influential performance.
Co-captain Liam Scarborough, Oliver Brett, Noah Cooney and Damon Stephens also fired for the winners.
Wyndhamvale’s only two defeats of the campaign came against North Footscray – in round 11 and the major semi-final.
The Falcons kicked 3.14 in a rain-affected final two weeks earlier, but there were no such issues on Saturday.
“It helped when we put a bit of scoreboard pressure on them, which forces them to chase the game a little bit,” Smith said.
“But it was just a good game of footy. It was intense and everything a grand final should be. I don’t think we shut the door on them until maybe halfway through the last (quarter), and then the boys just enjoyed the last five minutes of it.
“I just don’t think we executed well enough in that second semi, definitely in front of goal.
“It was probably the first wet game that we’d had all year, so it was just a few little factors.
“But North were better than us on the day … and we were lucky enough to reverse it in the one that matters most.”
