by Nicholas Duck
It was a funny old year for the Dusties last season.
Fresh off two finals appearances, the club entered 2024 with a new coach and plenty of hope. Instead, personnel issues and off-season struggles left them with a year to forget, slipping to seventh in spluttering fashion.
The club have now turned to two-time Buln Buln premiership coach Bob McCallum for their latest campaign, and the veteran ruck brings plenty of pedigree with him.
Three years at the Lyrebirds led to three grand finals, with McCallum's last two years at the helm seeing them beaten just once.
Speaking on the upcoming year, McCallum's not shying away from trying to bring that same winning culture to Warragul Industrials.
"There's some things that worked at Buln Buln obviously, so I'll be bringing some stuff over with systems and game plan from there. I've certainly done some work over the summer introducing some new things," he said.
McCallum said adaptability and being able to change game styles on the fly was going to be a cornerstone of his time in the top job.
"I think people watching the games will see some different styles at different times but we'll look to be strong in any style we're going to play."
The Dusties have seen some turnover from their 2024 side, with a few big names out the door.
Club legend Shane 'Punky' Brewster has taken up the senior coaching role at Trafalgar and has taken the classy Kyle Beveridge with him. Meanwhile, noted goalkickers Lachlan Bambridge and Mason McGarrity are off to Neerim South.
Replacing the goals the latter two were capable of will present its challenges.
In his one year with the club Bambridge booted 35 majors from 14 games in a forward line where he was often doing it tough, while McGarrity was one of West Gippsland's finest small forwards when at his best, kicking 63 goals in 2022 and 55 in 2023.
Helping to anchor the forward line is the inclusion of Tim Hancock, joining from Drouin. Hancock has spent much of his career down back but in recent times was deployed in the attacking half, something McCallum is aiming to take advantage of.
Norwood's Goy Lok comes in to give a serious boost to the Dusties' engine room, as does Officer's Brenton Hillard. Pacey wingman Jeremy Monckton will also inject some speed through the middle.
West Gippsland footy fans will likely remember Monckton for his time as a regular in Cora Lynn's senior side.
While pleased with his inclusions, McCallum wants to drive the culture of the Dusties in a different direction and try to minimise the significant list turnover the club has seen from year to year.
"What we plan to build is something that's going to stick together for years to come and not have that same turnover every single year."
McCallum said he was also excited to get back some players who missed much of 2024 like Todd and Bailey Beck, saying he was essentially thinking of them as added recruits.
Likewise, the Dusties' talented juniors also will play into McCallum's plans. Both the under 16s and under 18s featured in last year's West Gippsland grand finals, the former managing to win their flag.
Young guns like Josh Bradley, Tom Cornwall and Regan Awty are likely to see some serious minutes at senior level while Gippsland Power stars Cody Templeton and Damian Leslie may feature depending on availability.
Coming into his seventh year as a senior coach, McCallum is looking at the year as one with plenty of upside.
"I'm most often a bit of an optimist. It'll be difficult but we'll be looking to push into that top six pretty quickly," he said.
McCallum also will be aiming to have an impact on the field too. The 2015 Gippsland League Trood Award and Rodda Medalist is confident he still has a few good years left in him through the middle, and the first task will be getting through former-Drouin teammate Eddie Morris, who will be coaching the Dusties' round one opponents Garfield.
"It'll be fun," McCallum said with a laugh. "Eddie and I get along really well, we have a few jokes here and there but when the ball's there to be won he'll be be a bit of green and yellow in my way so it won't matter too much."
2024 was a year to forget for the Dusties. Can they make 2025 one to remember?