The 2025 Perth Football League A Grade season is shaping up to be one of the most competitive yet, with reigning premiers Kingsway set to defend their title against a field of hungry challengers. With massive new recruits, coaching changes, and clubs looking to bounce back from past disappointments, the season promises excitement, unpredictability, and high quality footy.

The reigning premiers Kingsway will become the hunted this year, after winning one of the most even A Grade competitions last season. They beat Trinity Aquinas in the big dance by 29 points, with competition best and fairest Jaxon McGowan winning best on ground in the grand final, which was a dominant performance by the whole team. A side filled with great players all over the field has added multiple players to their arsenal. Head Coach Jackson Harwood played down expectations, “We've put a good body of work in, and we have done the work same as last year and reasonably healthy. Keen to get stuck into the real stuff.” Key performers from last year's premiership have stuck around, Jaxon McGowan, Rowan Brookes, Kyle Halligan and Blake Wilhelm are among those players. They've also added Jaimon Alone from Subiaco, and brothers Judd and Abraham Clinch, joining their brother Isaac to the club. With great players all over the field and an excellent coaching group, the reigning premiers will be hard to beat once again.

After back-to-back minor premierships and grand finals, Trinity Aquinas will certainly be wanting to take the next step and go one better this season. Two years of heartbreak would have taken its toll on the team, but Head Coach Adam Pickering will be keeping the group level-headed and focusing on the season at hand. Multiple key players have departed the club, with Brady Alvaro and Jack Green being picked up by South Fremantle, and Michael Sinclair, the second-highest goal scorer in the competition last year, is playing country footy. Other key players from last year's minor premiers include Alex Moreno, Blake Borrett, Ryan Vermeesch and Kendall Taylor. All of whom will need to step up in replace of the three guns no longer at the club.

Last year's second place finishers, Fremantle CBC, will be eager to bounce back after a straight-sets exit in last year’s finals series.. Losing to the premiers in first week, then a disappointing performance against Curtin Uni Wesley ended their season. Former Fremantle player Dillon O'Reilly has joined the club in what’s a massive boost, coming from East Fremantle. Head Coach Liam Anthony would have put the team through their paces this preseason, wanting to make sure the team has put the bad finals exit behind them. Key players from last season Chris Ah Siu, Dion Anthony and Julian Hultan have all returned to the club. A big loss for the club is Matt Ward, who has been picked up by South Fremantle. Ward finished equal second in the competition best and fairest last year. Expect Fremantle CBC to start strong, aiming to right the wrongs of last years finals series.

2023 premiers Curtin Uni Wesley will be aiming to get back to the ultimate success, after losing in the preliminary final last year to eventual premiers Kingsway. A massive addition for the club is new Head Coach Nick Suban. The former Fremantle and South Fremantle player will lead the club this year. Suban finished his career at South Fremantle, then moved into the coaching staff last year. This year, he is taking the next step and leading his own team. Suban said, “Very excited to be part of the Curtin Wesley football club, looking forward to an exciting year ahead and have been impressed by the boys preseason.” There have been a few changes to the team, with key players James Corner and Ky Meers no longer at the club. Recruiting Simon Hayward from Perth and George Wessels from South Fremantle will help fill the void and improve the team. Standout performers Kyle Hammersley and Chris Leonard, who were both top 6 in last year's competition best and fairest, are both still at the club. New leadership, gun recruits and competition leaders will all help this team stay in the hunt for another flag.

The big risers from last year Ocean Ridge, are going to be pushing for more this season. The 2023 B Grade premiers were promoted to A Grade last year, and showed up with the big dogs of the competition, finishing fifth and making finals. They bowed out in the first week by two points to Curtin Uni Wesley, but lost no admirers in the process. Clint Hinchliffe and Nathan French will again be the crucial performers, joined by Luke Michael and Ryan Gallen. Big man Jack Maibaum has been recruited from Claremont, and will only make the team better. Head Coach Craig Dalton once again has a great team at his disposal, with aspirations to go even better than last year.

There's a new look down at University for the 2025 season. The finals mainstays and competition giants have a new head coach and are unveiling the new clubrooms in Round 2. Club legend Chris Ninkov has been promoted to league coach after winning the A Reserves flag last year. The much-loved figure at the club will be looking to keep improving the team and the club as a whole. “The club has been built through its Colts program, and the high level of retention we have will give us good stead this year.” He’s excited to see what the team can do after a down season by their high standards last year. “I'm confident that we've worked very hard this offseason and with the improvements and additions to a side that wasn't far off the mark last year and is very close to taking that next step.” Gun midfielders Isaac Barton and Cyrus Upson will be backed up by rising stars Oscar Morecombe and Lewis Crump this year. Crump was injured for most of last year, and Ninkov gave both him and Morecombe big rap for the season ahead. Key back Ryan Hudson highlights the recruits, with Sam West and Alex Donaldson coming from Williams. A massive watch on University this season, no doubt Chris Ninkov will have this team flying for the start of the season and be looking to get back into flag contention.

Powerhouses North Beach have been on the recruiting train, with plenty of new faces down at the club. Head Coach Dylan Eiffler has some great players at his disposal this year, two years of missing finals will certainly not turn to three. Key players Ned Halley, Nic Wells and Alec Johnson will be joined by some massive recruits. Leigh Kitchin highlights the new players, with Subiaco teammate Drew Rohde joining him. Rohan Scurria has arrived from West Perth, Frank Anderson from Swan Districts, and Alex Marklew from the Wangaratta Rovers in the Ovens & Murray Football League. Former Subiaco player Koby Fullgrabe has also joined after playing country footy last year, and last seasons injured players Joey Deegan and Tom Hooper are fit and firing. It will be hard to see this stacked lineup not playing finals this year, with anything but a finals berth will be disappointing.

It's been a down four years for Scarborough since the flag in 2020. By beating North Beach in the final round of the season, Scarborough was able to jump Mt Lawley on the ladder and fight out of the relegation zone. Head Coach and key player Aidan Lynch acknowledges last year's struggles, but is hoping the team can move back up the ladder. “We want to be better this year after struggling last year, we just want to improve. The group has come together really well the last two years and hopefully with some improvement, we can have crack at finals.” Helping the team improve will be gun recruit and former West Coast Eagle, Connor West, who’s coming from West Perth. Ben Delaporte has also come to the club, after being with Wembley the last few years. Louis Passera and Ben Ramshaw have returned to the club after being involved with Claremont and East Perth respectively. Even with some big recruits, Mitch Peirce and big man Luke Ledger have moved to West Perth, leaving a hole for the new players to fill. Mitchell Mcphee, Lewis Putt and Kai Harwood round out the other big names for the team. The team will need to improve on last year's performance, and expect that will happen with their great recruits.

After last year’s grand final upset, B Grade premiers North Fremantle will be riding the momentum of their triumph. Finishing third in the regular season, the team made their way to the grand final coming up against undefeated Whitfords, where they won by four points. Since relegation in 2022, the team struggled two years ago, but stayed strong last year. Head Coach Arthur Maskos is confident that the team can keep improving, “Looking forward to the challenge of A Grade, we have a lot of kids coming up from the colts and we are looking to build within. We’ve got the right age group with some young prospects and some great senior players.” Those senior players include Hamish Rodgers, Thomas Wallis, Jordan Rodriguez and Nixon Hamlet. Mitchell Sinnott has joined the club from South Fremantle, Kai Barker has also moved from the West Coast WAFL side. The second highest goal scorer in the B Grade competition last year John Sgherza has decided to retire, being the only big out for the team.

The undefeated minor premiers of B Grade and grand finalists Whitfords, were the other team promoted. After not losing a game all season and making the grand final, Whitfords went into the final game favourites, but North Fremantle caused an upset. Whitfords will have to wait until Round 8 to face North Fremantle again, which will most definitely be a game to watch. Whitfords have made their team better this year, with Trent Manzone coming to the club from Perth. B Grade leading goal kicker Jay Cutler has returned along with the dominant competition best and fairest Alex Wenn. Head Coach Christian Kelly wants to keep the momentun from last year into this year, “Our aspirations for the season is to be a hard team to play against and bring the enthusiasm and endeavour that got us to a grand final in B grade 2024. Continue to build on the culture that makes Whitford one of the best clubs in the PFL.” It will be fascinating to see how Whitfords fits in to the competition this year, with a dominant team last year and a gun recruit, there should be hope that this team flourish in A Grade.

Jack Penniment.