2025 SEASON PREVIEW: Sandhurst FNC
2024 was a monumental season for the Sandhurst Dragons.
Two netball Premierships (B-Res & 17&U) plus a trio of football Premierships made 2024 one to remember for the team that calls the QEO home.
Fast forward to 2025 and not much has changed for the Dragons.
Perennially a Netball contender and with a football list that has the same bones of the team that tore up 2024, it’s not an outlandish statement to say that 2025 could be the year of the Dragon once again.
Football Preview
Achieving a triple premiership in the BFNL football is something that has never been done.
Given it’s a first, a question that must be asked is, how does a Club come back after such success? The answer; focus on your foundations.
This is exactly what Sandhurst has done in the off-season. A tactic that has seen them with only a few additions ahead of 2025.
There will be a change in the coaching ranks for 2025 with 2024 playing Co-Coach, Bryce Curnow moving to non-playing Co-Coach and Michelsen medal winning superstar, Lachlan Tardrew joining the coaching ranks as a playing Co-Coach.
On the field, the majority of the Dragons inclusions come in the bag man stocks as they welcome Tom Campbell, a key forward from NCFL Club, Wedderburn. The 2024 season saw Campbell play 18 games and kick 48 goals for the Redbacks.
Other new additions to Sandhurst are Seb Collins who joins from Maryborough as a versatile ruckman who will spend some time in defence and Hugh Schmetzer who is new to Bendigo having played most recently for Osborne in the Hume League.
The Dragons also add to their leadership ranks with former player Will Brohm returning to the Club after some time in Queensland where he played for Mayne AFC and multiple QLD representative matches.
Key departures for Sandhurst ahead of 2025 are classy midfielder Noah Walsh who heads to St. Kevins OB in the VAFA, Isaac Carracher who has transferred to Colbinabbin and Isaac Ruff who moves north to play for Coolangatta AFC.
From the Coach
After a long and illustrious career, BFNL stalwart, Bryce Curnow has officially hung up his boots allowing for full time focus on his coaching journey.
When asked about the change, Curnow said “I’m feeling confident. I have been juggling playing and coaching for about 9 years now so to be able to focus on coaching full time is exciting.”
“I’ve played at a lot of Club’s and have definitely learnt some best practises.”
After claiming all 3 football premierships in 2024, Curnow expressed excitement for 2025 saying “Following such a successful year, we deliberately didn’t go out with a focus on recruiting”
“We focused on our needs and our size in the key positions were areas that we needed more depth in.” Curnow added, “All of Tom (Campbell), Seb (Collins) and Hugh (Schmetzer) will play big roles for us this season.”
Given the focus on building from the ground up, Curnow noted a few youngsters who should get a taste on Senior football early in 2025, “Oliver Morris and Jack English are ready made Senior footballers.”
“Their growth over the preseason really excites me for what they can achieve for this Club.”
Netball preview
Sandhurst’s netball program is forever a challenger in all grades.
Whilst the Dragons 17 & Under and B-Reserve sides claimed a Premiership in 2024, their A-Grade team fell agonisingly short, losing a Preliminary final to Kangaroo Flat.
After a busy off-season, The Dragons’ A-Squad is set for a strong 2025 as they continue to learn how to balance their stars’ playing time and commitments at a higher-level.
Ahead of 2025, some key additions to their A-Squad include Kelsey Meade who re-joins the team after having her 3rd child and Kelsey Ralph who has cemented her spot in the main team.
Excitingly though, the main additions to the Dragons A-Squad are coming from within as Harriett Whiteacre, Neve Pinner and Claire McGee make the step up from their 17 & Under seasons.
Exclusions from the Dragons’ A-Squad are Paige Ryan and Kelsey Pallpratt who both leave for Wedderburn in the NCNA.
Another notable exclusion from Sandhurst’s main team is Charlotte Sexton who has claimed a training partner position with the Melbourne Vixens which will see her forego all Sandhurst duties while still continuing with the Bendigo Strikers.
From the Coach
A-Squad head coach, Tamara Gilchrist is feeling positive about her team’s aspirations for 2025 saying, “We have had a great preseason. We developed an 11 week program that keeps everyone on track for our season while enabling them to balance their numerous other commitments.”
“We’re blessed to have a number of players playing at a higher level and while these players add plenty to our team, it can be a challenge to manage these players through a season.”
“Our 11-week program has helped this and has the girls training hard and building great connections.”
When asked about players to highlight as potential breakout contenders, Gilchrist said “I am super excited about what Harriette (Whiteacre), Neve (Pinner) and Claire (McGee) can bring for us this year. Obviously, they bring youth to the squad but they are extremely talented also.”
In March, Sandhurst along with Kangaroo Flat were given the opportunity to play a curtain raising match ahead of a Melbourne Vixens Practice match.
To make the most of the experience, Gilchrist and her coaching staff managed to play their whole A-Squad of 16 players 10-12 minutes each.
On this event, Gilchrist said “Playing in a packed arena like that was an amazing experience for all our players.”
“It was important for us to share that amongst the whole squad given the size of the occasion.”
Whilst the Dragons are perennial contenders, 2024 was a learning curve for Gilchrist, “The introduction of the Strikers has been amazing for Bendigo netball but it has meant we have needed to reset and adjust our teams’ preparations to help players manage other playing commitments.”
“In 2025, our goal is to finish the home & away season in the top-3 and trust our process so it can take us to Grand Final day.”
A Look Ahead
After a long preseason and two practice matches against Echuca and North Ballarat, Sandhurst will unfurl their 3 Football Premiership flags against Castlemaine at the QEO in Round 1 on 12 April.
Round 2 has the Dragons taking on Strathfieldsaye at Tannery Lane on Good Friday in what is a match of the round blockbuster.
