Having established himself as one of Werribee’s standout contributors in his first year Ryan Eyers has become the club’s latest re-signing for the 2026 VFL season.

The 22-year-old key defender quickly became one of the first names picked on the team sheet each week and burst out of the gates with back-to-back best-on-ground performances in Rounds 3 and 4. His season would come to a premature end in Round 12, when he went down with a hamstring injury just before the third-quarter siren.

Down back, he averaged five marks and four intercepts, and ranked top five in the competition with seven spoils per game.

Despite playing just 11 games, Eyers’ outstanding campaign was recognised on Bruce Montgomery Trophy night, where he claimed two awards: Werribee’s Trademark Player of the Year and Best First Year Player. The night also highlighted that at the time of his injury he was leading the club best-and-fairest count by five votes ahead of eventual runaway winner Dom Brew.

Speaking on his re-commitment to the club, Eyers said:

“I’m absolutely stoked to be at Werribee again in season 2026. The playing group and coaches are so eager to get to work, and I can’t wait to be back out there in the Big W.”

Eyers established himself as one of the league’s most reliable lockdown defenders in 2025, seamlessly filling the void left by retired stalwart Nathan Cooper. Tasked with taking on some of the competition’s most dominant key forwards and AFL-listed talent, he was rarely beaten, holding now-Crow Finnbar Maley goalless, restricting Bulldogs’ Jordan Croft to just one disposal, and keeping Swans’ Logan McDonald to eight touches and one goal.

Senior coach Jimmy Allan spoke glowingly of Eyers to Code Sports’ Paul Amy after his debut season:

“We were under the pump a fair bit this year and he stood up under immense pressure. He just finds a way. He’s got those Inspector Gadget arms. He’s lightly built but he’s strong enough and he’s got really good defensive craft. He uses his body well. He gets an arm in. He’s super-brave in the air.”

2026 will mark Eyers’ second season at Werribee after making the move up the highway from Geelong, where he played nine games across two years while biding his time behind AFL-listed key defenders such as Connor O’Sullivan and now-teammate Emerson Jeka.

He also continues Werribee’s strong connection to the Ovens and Murray League, coming out of Corowa-Rutherglen, where he won the club’s best-and-fairest in 2024 and was named in the best in 13 of his 16 matches before joining Werribee.