Wyndhamvale coach Daniel Smith says the club is eyeing a berth in the top flight after advancing to this weekend’s Western Football League division 2 decider.
The Falcons will not earn promotion if they conquer North Footscray in Saturday’s grand final at Yarraville Oval, with the league pushing pause on any changes to the senior grades this year.
That decision came after Sunshine, Albion and Newport were promoted for 2025 to create a 12-team competition in division 1.
But Smith said the minor premier had an “18-month plan” to secure a return to the top grade.
“In reality, this year means nothing in the grand scheme of things with no promotion or demotion,” Smith said.
“But at the same time, we want to win it. That’s our driving force, to win it, and then take that momentum into pre-season and hopefully go again and get promotion to divvy 1.
“We recruited for two years’ time. I think 75 per cent of the boys who played on Saturday are 25 and under, so we’ve got a lot to work with.”
Wyndhamvale has lost its past two clashes against the Devils – its only two defeats this season – and went down by three points in an agonising major semi-final defeat.
The Falcons were left to lament their inaccuracy in that fixture, kicking three goals from 17 scores.
The club will be chasing its first senior flag since 2015, with its two senior teams qualifying for the decider for the first time.
“We can only keep practising what we’re doing, and if it works, we’ll know by the final siren on Saturday,” Smith said.
“It’s a grand final, you just don’t know what’s going to happen.
“If we kick straight, that would probably help. But just maintaining our little fundamentals that we’ve worked on since November. If we can do that, then hopefully it puts us on the right side of the result.
“The boys have put in the work, and hopefully both sides can win it on the weekend. It’s the first time Wyndhamvale have had both seniors and reserves in the grand final, so it’s a bit of club history.”
Wyndhamvale tuned up for a tilt at premiership glory in style, hammering West Footscray by 68 points in the preliminary final, 21.18 (144)-10.16 (76).
Smith’s side dominated from start to finish with co-captain Cameron Morrison and Jack Tessari returning their best hauls of the season as they contributed five goals apiece.
Smith said his side had multiple goalkicking options apart from sharpshooter Lewis Stanton, who has bagged 119 majors from 20 outings this year.
Kyle Bistisi, Nathan Griffiths, Connor Yeoell and Damon Stephens also starred for the winners.
“Just the way the boys responded after both teams lost last week, they came out and showed everything that we’ve been building up for for the year,” Smith said.
“But there’s still obviously one game to go, and that’s the important one.
“But we’re there and we’ll see what happens on the day.”
