After two seasons leading Werribee’s medical team, head physiotherapist Shea Mulkearns will depart the club to take on a new role with an AFL-aligned program. Shea becomes the latest member of Werribee’s staff to step up to the next level of elite sport, continuing the club’s strong track record of developing talent both on and off the field.

Mulkearns joined Werribee ahead of the 2023 season and has led the club’s medical team over the past two years, playing a key role in the team’s journey to the Grand Final in 2023 and its premiership win in 2024. Under his guidance, Werribee used just 36 players each season—the second fewest in the competition, and down from 41 in 2022. Reflecting on his time at Werribee, Shea said “Werribee welcomed me with open arms and I will be forever grateful for the friendships, learnings and support I received from top to bottom at the club.” He added, “The club is truly a special place and I will look back on my time with a smile.”

Shea’s departure marks the sixth member of Werribee’s football department in the past year to transition into the elite sports environment, highlighting the club’s ability to develop its staff off the field, as well as its players on it.

Just last week, Development Manager Hamish MacInnes departed after six seasons to focus on his full-time position as North Melbourne’s Academies Head Coach. North Melbourne's Head of Strategic Operations and Projects, Nathan Hrovat, described Hamish’s work in game development at AFL Vic and the Werribee Football Club noting, “He will be a great asset to our club, supporting the delivery of academy programs in the region through participation and talent identification initiatives.” This enhances the strong reputation Werribee has built at AFL level in developing its staff and preparing them for the next level.

MacInnes joins Michael Barlow at North Melbourne. 

At the conclusion of the 2023 season, Barlow joined North Melbourne as their Head of Development, saying, “It’s a really significant opportunity for me—to step away from what I’m doing now was no easy decision.” Over three seasons as senior coach, Barlow led Werribee to a record-breaking 17-match win streak and a Grand Final appearance in 2023—a milestone 18 years in the making.

Reflecting on Barlow’s departure at the time, Werribee president Martin Carter said, "Our last two senior coaches have been headhunted by AFL clubs, which says a lot about the status of our club and our senior coaching position.”

Since joining the Roos, Barlow has earned further accolades, winning the 2024 AFL Coaches Association Development Coach of the Year award for his work with North Melbourne’s emerging talent.

Also departing since the end of the season was our Head Analyst Jacob Ellet, who moved interstate for a full-time role as Performance Analyst with Cricket Tasmania, working across all three formats, including for the Hobart Hurricanes in the Big Bash League. Club Doctor Rebecca Beaton, who joined Werribee in 2019, has taken on the position of Chief Medical Officer with the Melbourne Storm (NRL).

High-Performance Manager Gaetano Faranda accepted the full-time role of Head of Strength and Conditioning at West Perth Football Club in the WAFL for the 2025 season.

Faranda reflected on the pivotal role the club played in his professional growth, saying, “I will be forever grateful to the Werribee Football Club—the friendships I’ve made and the lessons I’ve learned over the past two years are invaluable, and this club has made me fall in love with footy again.”

While the club's recent success over the past two seasons has highlighted its ability to develop staff both on and off the field, these six individuals are added to the growing list of Werribee staff members who have gone on to make their mark in elite sport following their time with our club.

This includes psychologists like Jacqui Louder, who served as Werribee’s team psychologist from 2007 to 2011 and currently works across both AFL and NRL clubs, strength and conditioning coaches such as Cam Micallef, who worked with Werribee from 2011 to 2014 and is currently with Carlton, as is our former statistician Jack Noble, who now serves as Carlton’s Football Analyst. Additionally, operations staff like Sam Sargeant, who began his journey at Werribee, now works as Cricket Administration Coordinator for the Women’s BBL.

Werribee’s influence extends beyond Australian sport, with Johann Bilsborough, who served as the club's Fitness Coach in 2006, now working as a Director of Performance & Rehabilitation in the NFL. Bilsborough also previously worked as the High-Performance Manager and Director of Sports Science for the Boston Celtics in 2018.

After one of the great individual VFL seasons in 2024, star midfielder Dom Brew will return to Werribee next season, re-signing for 2025 to add to his tally of 111 club games.

Brew’s eighth season with Werribee was unforgettable, highlighted by an outstanding array of accolades: Werribee life membership, VFL State Team captaincy, Smithy’s VFL Team of the Year captain, the J.J. Liston Trophy, VFL Coaches MVP, a second consecutive Bruce Montgomery Trophy, and the ultimate honour of leading Werribee to its first premiership in 31 years.

With veteran midfielders Tom Gribble and Matt Hanson departing at the end of 2023, along with Werribee losing nine players from its previous Grand Final side, Brew embraced an added responsibility coming into 2024. “Those boys were a bit of a shelter for me,” he shared. “When they left, I felt a real heavy weight on the shoulders—I know I didn’t have to, but I did.”

He went on to play every one of Werribee’s 21 games in 2024, his second consecutive season without a missed match. He averaging a career-high 29 disposals, and led the VFL in tackles and clearances.

Brew’s J.J. Liston Trophy win showed his domination across the competition for the season. He polled 31 votes, the second highest in the award’s history to have the medal won by Round 17 ahead of Gold Coast half back Rory Aktkins and perennial podium sitter Boyd Woodcock from Southport.

So big was his lead, the count was called off with four rounds to go.

Reflecting on his journey at the VFL Awards Night, Brew spoke about the work that has gone into reaching this level, especially having come through an unconventional path without TAC Cup experience as a junior “No one would have thought I’d be here where I am now, even last year. I might not be the quickest, I’m not the most skilled, I’m not the tallest, I’m not the strongest, but I think I do a pretty good job of putting it together. And I won’t quit.’’

With captain Nick Coughlan sidelined during the finals through injury, Brew stepped up to lead the team. He averaged over 30 disposals in the finals series, with a standout 27-contested-possession and 15-clearance game in the Grand Final, which saw him come second in the Norm Goss voting as Werribee held on to a six point victory.

His passion for the club was evident through his emotional post-match interview: “That’s the life work, isn’t it? We won the minor premiership, but we shouldn’t be here. There’s a lot of boys under 22—I’m so proud.”

When asked if he was worried at half-time being down by three goals Brew said “Never [worried]. Never count us out. There’s people that get knocked down and they don’t get up, but us boys from Werribee, we get back up everytime and keep going.”

2024 was Brew’s eighth season at the club, arriving in 2017 from North Albury where he shared the playing field with Shaun Mannagh. Their local coach, former AFL star Jason Akermanis, advised the pair to give VFL a go.

He broke into the senior side Round 9, 2017 debuting against the Northern Bullants and making an immediate impact for John Lamont’s side, picking up 22 disposals, seven clearances and laying nine tackles. Brew never looked back after that point, playing the remainder of the season and averaging 17 disposals and 12 tackles.

In his first full season in 2018, Brew quickly gained a reputation as one of the league’s top tacklers, with his 149 tackles—averaging nearly 11 per game—ranking him second in the competition. He built on this momentum in 2019, playing a personal-best 20 games, finishing runner-up in the Bruce Montgomery Trophy, and earning both the club’s Best Defensive Player and Most Courageous Player awards.

When long-standing captain Michael Sodomaco standing down after seven years of captaincy following the 2021 campaign, Dom Brew was voted co-captain alongside Tom Gribble for the 2022 season. Coach Michael Barlow at the time saying “In all my time in football clubs I’ve never seen someone invest in others as much as Dom Brew does”. Brew has since remained in the leadership group, being named vice-captain under Nick Coughlan for 2023 and 2024.

2023 was a major breakout season for the hard-nosed midfielder, who expanded his offensive game this season while still negating the opposition’s best onballer, bumping his average disposals from 20 to 25 per game to establish himself as one of the league’s best ball winners. As Werribee went on their record-breaking 17-match win streak and reached their first Grand Final in 18 years, Brew played every game and earned a maiden VFL Team of the Year selection and claim his first Bruce Montgomery Trophy.

Reflecting on his re-signing, Brew addressed Werribee fans; speaking on the highs of 2024 before signing off with “Those that know me, let’s make 2025 even better - pumped to get back into it”.

Nick Hayes, the most experienced state league player in the VFL has called it a day after 64 games and four seasons with the club.

At 30-years-old, Hayes was Werribee’s oldest player this season, following the departures of veteran teammates Tom Gribble, Michael Sodomaco, Josh Porter and Matt Hanson at the end of 2023. In his final season, the versatile forward played 18 games in Werribee’s premiership-winning campaign, with his 2024 season also seeing him reach the milestone of 200 state league games, an achievement the club honoured at their best-and-fairest night.

Reflecting on his time with the club, Hayes shared, “It’s been a great experience playing at Werribee, and I’ve made some friends for life.”

Speaking about ending his tenure with a Grand Final win, he added, “The premiership is a day I’ll never forget, and the best possible way to finish my time at the club.”

Hayes called time on his Werribee career after his fourth season with the club in what was his twelfth season of state league football. The forward made the switch to Werribee from South Australian club Woodville West Torrens ahead of the 2021 VFL season, fresh from a 2020 SANFL flag. Prior to his six seasons with Woodville, Hayes was originally drafted to Brisbane in the 2013 rookie draft, and spent two seasons with the Lions, where he won the reserves best-and-fairest in his second season up north. During his time at Brisbane, Hayes also won a NEAFL premiership, adding the 2024 VFL title as his third state league premiership across three different competitions.

When joining Werribee in 2021, Hayes noted that the club's values made Werribee a perfect fit for him. "They had a lot of similar values to what I was playing over in Adelaide at Woodville – a standalone club, a real community and team atmosphere, which is exactly what I was looking for here." Although his first season was cut short by the COVID-19 pandemic, Hayes made an immediate impact, kicking 10 goals and averaging 15 disposals and six marks per game in his nine matches.

Hayes enjoyed another consistent season in 2022, averaging 15 disposals, more than six marks, and a goal per game, earning him his first top-ten finish in Werribee's best-and-fairest as well as the Coaches Award.

Off the back of his strong 2022 campaign, Hayes was inducted into the leadership group for the first time in 2023, a position he held for his last two seasons at the club. In the 2023 season he played all 21 games, kicking 21 goals, including a career-high four goals against North Melbourne late in the season. Two of his most pivotal goals of the season came in the preliminary final against Brisbane. He kicked two crucial majors, including a miracle goal from the pocket, to help Werribee make the Grand Final.

Hayes kicked off the 2024 season in strong form, building on his impressive finish to 2023. After playing forward and kicking a goal in Werribee’s Round 1 win over Geelong, he once again proved his versatility, delivering one of the standout performances of his Werribee career in defence during the Round 2 clash with Southport. Hayes collected 28 disposals, 11 marks, and nine intercept possessions in a three-point victory. The forward was then selected to represent Victoria in the state league clash against his old league, the SANFL, as the Big V returned to state of origin footy.

In the following weeks after returning to Werribee, Hayes kicked three goals in a half against GWS and celebrated his 50th game with the club, before playing his 200th state league game against North Melbourne in round nine.

Midway through the season Hayes transitioned from forward to a wingman, and went on to play every game for the remainder of the season. For the second consecutive season, Hayes stepped up in the preliminary final against his former side, Brisbane, with a Grand Final berth on the line. The 30-year-old veteran was named among the best players, finishing with 17 disposals, six marks, seven intercepts, and his first goal since Round 15 in the 20-point win.

As Werribee broke a 31-year premiership drought the following week in Hayes’ final game, he reflected on the triumph post-match, saying, “I’m absolutely ecstatic. Obviously, 12 months ago it was the opposite result, so it’s just an unbelievable feeling.”