Two weeks after the 31-year premiership wait came to an end, Werribee is excited to announce young guns Jaelen Pavlidis and Jake Smith are amongst the first players to re-sign for the 2025 VFL season.

The duo are the youngest players to take the field for the club this season, with Pavlidis celebrating his 21st birthday just a day before the Grand Final and Smith achieving premiership success at just 19 years of age. Having joined Werribee together ahead of the 2024 season, both established themselves in the premiership-winning side—Jaelen featuring in 18 games and Jake in 15—and have shown no hesitation in committing to the club through to the end of 2025.

Football roots run deep for both Pavlidis and Smith at Werribee Football Club.

Jake this season became the third generation of the Smith bloodline to represent Werribee in the VFL/VFA, following in the footsteps of his father Karl and grandfather Brian. 

Smith’s grandfather Brian (Werribee Football Club player #8) represented the club in their inaugural season and went on to play 37 games across three seasons from 1965 to 1967. Smith’s father Karl (WFC player #356) likewise played for the club for three seasons; 1988 to 1990. 

While, Jaelen Pavlidis’ father, John, has a rich connection to the club as well. A former player (WFC player #408), John also served as a runner, welfare manager, and recruiting manager, earning life membership for his contributions to the club.

Pavlidis joined the club from GWS, where he played 18 games as a midfielder for their VFL side across the 2022 and 2023 seasons. He then switched clubs and positions, making his debut for Werribee as a defender in Round 1 against Geelong.

Pavlidis impressed from the beginning of his Werribee career, earning the Player of the Round in the club’s third match of the season, with 20 disposals and seven marks in a win over Richmond, and was sitting fourth in the best-and-fairest after Round 6. The young defender put together 16 consecutive appearances until injuring his hamstring in Round 18 against Port Melbourne. After six weeks on the sidelines, Pavlidis returned for the preliminary final against Brisbane, and was named in the best players as Werribee made it through to the Grand Final and Pavlidis ultimately won premiership glory in his first season at the club. 

Even with three games missed due to injury, Jaelen finished in the top 10 for the club’s best-and-fairest, averaging 13 disposals and five marks over his 18 appearances.

Football manager Ash Collins shared his enthusiasm about locking in Pavlidis: “He didn’t train as a back during pre-season, but he excelled when we shifted him there in practice matches. We’re excited to see what he can accomplish next year with a full pre-season under his belt as a defender.”

Jake Smith signed for the club ahead of the 2024 season after a dominant year for the Western Jets in the Coates Talent League. Signing at just 18-years-old, the midfielder won the Jets best-and-fairest after averaging 23 disposals and six tackles. His performances earned him a VFL debut last season, where he played for Williamstown against the Casey Demons late in the season. 

Smith broke into the side ahead of the Round 6 clash with Carlton, one of two debutants after the club suffered back-to-back losses for the first time in 620 days. The young-gun impressed allround with 13 disposals, eight clearances and six tackles, and like Pavlidis made the spot his own, stringing together 11 consecutive games until an injury sidelined him for the Round 19 match against Southport, which would be Werribee's last loss of the season. He returned for the final game of the home-and-away season and played a pivotal role in the club’s finals campaign, notably kicking a snapping goal in the hail in the final quarter of the preliminary final when it was a two-point ball game. 

Smith ended the season averaging 15 disposals, four tackles and four clearances a game in his first VFL season. 

Collins also spoke highly of Smith's re-signing, “At just 19 years old, Jake is still a kid and has already performed on the big stage, so we’re really excited to see what he can do with a second full VFL pre-season under his belt.”