Werribee’s champion midfielder Dom Brew will enter rare territory in 2026, re-signing to play his 10th season in the black and gold.

The 28-year-old’s historic run will continue after claiming a third consecutive Bruce Montgomery Trophy as Werribee’s best and fairest at the conclusion of the 2025 season.

Brew further etched his name into club history, becoming just the third player to win the award three years running, joining Travis Robertson and close friend Matt Hanson. The count was close early before Brew stormed clear in Round 13 and never looked back, ultimately finishing 40 votes ahead, the largest winning margin since Jarred Moore’s runaway triumph in 2013.

After a dominant 2024 campaign in which he swept nearly every individual honour available, Brew somehow found another gear in 2025. The inside bull averaged career highs of 28.9 disposals and 10.1 clearances per game, leading the VFL in clearances while also ranking number one for contested possessions and tackles.

At the VFL’s end-of-season awards night, Brew was named in the Team of the Year for the third straight season. He also presented the J.J. Liston Trophy to Southport’s Jordan Dawson, while finishing third in the count himself after polling in 11 of his 18 games.

Brew’s durability was again on full display, as one of just five players to appear in every game this season, marking his third consecutive year without missing a match. Remarkably, the last time Brew missed a game for Werribee was 939 days ago, when he sat out the 2022 season opener.

This year’s 18 appearances lifted him into eighth place on the club’s all-time games list with 129. Should he play at least eight more in 2026, he will climb to second all-time, behind only Hall of Famer Robbie Castello.

Speaking on The Big W Podcast with host Kevin Hillier, Brew reflected on the year:

“Individually, it was a good year for me, but it’s a team sport and this year was quite frustrating,” he said.

“It’s definitely not a wasted year. We got games into a few boys that are gonna be a lot better for it. We got to expose a few boys to the level and they know what’s expected, and you can look at it as glass half full, which I do, as a necessary year.”

2025 marked Brew’s ninth season at the club, having arrived in 2017 from North Albury, where he played alongside Shaun Mannagh. Their local coach, former AFL star Jason Akermanis, encouraged the pair to test themselves at VFL level.

He broke into the senior side in Round 9, 2017, debuting against the Northern Bullants and making an immediate impact for John Lamont’s side with 22 disposals, seven clearances and nine tackles. Brew never looked back, 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 ranking him second in the competition. He built on that momentum in 2019, playing a personal-best 20 games, finishing runner-up in the Bruce Montgomery Trophy, and earning both the Best Defensive Player and Most Courageous Player awards.

When long-standing captain Michael Sodomaco stepped down after seven years of captaincy following the 2021 campaign, Brew was voted co-captain alongside Tom Gribble for the 2022 season. Then-coach Michael Barlow praised him, saying, “In all my time in football clubs I’ve never seen someone invest in others as much as Dom Brew does.”

Brew has remained in the leadership group since, serving as vice-captain under Nick Coughlan in 2023 and 2024, and again under Jesse Clark this year.

The 2023 season proved to be a major turning point, as Brew expanded his offensive game while continuing to shut down the opposition’s best midfielders. He lifted his average from 20 to 25 disposals per game to establish himself as one of the competition’s premier ball winners. As Werribee went on its record-breaking 17-match winning streak and reached its first Grand Final in 18 years, Brew played every game, earned his first VFL Team of the Year selection, and claimed his maiden Bruce Montgomery Trophy before taking his game to another level in 2024.

The 2024 season saw Brew walk away as a premiership captain, J.J. Liston Medallist, and Coaches MVP, as well as earning another VFL Team of the Year appearance and his second of three Werribee Best and Fairest awards, capping off one of the most decorated individual years ever produced by a Werribee player.