Season Preview 2025: West Belconnen Warriors

In 2025, the West Belconnen Warriors celebrate 50 years as a senior club and aim for a strong season to mark the milestone.

After a disappointing 2024 campaign in the Blumers Lawyers Canberra Raiders Cup - where they missed finals with a 6-10 record to finish sixth - the Warriors are eager to respond.

A club usually in premiership contention, having won the title in 2022 and reached the semis in 2023, West Belconnen sees 2024 as an outlier and is determined to bounce back in their milestone year.

Warriors halfback Calab Edwards highlighted the significance of the anniversary for the playing group, particularly for captain-coach Ryan McQueen.

“[McQueen] always expects us to have a big year, especially because it’s our 50th anniversary, so he wants to go sky-high and, like every year, try and win the comp,” Edwards said.

“It’s pretty special to be a part of and to be halfback for the Westies in their 50th year.”

Edwards also shed light on the team’s preseason focus, emphasising the importance of improving their defence.

“We’ve been doing a lot of defence, it’s something we lacked last year, so we’re trying to turn that around.”

In the Blumers Lawyers Katrina Fanning Shield, the West Belconnen Warriors fell short in their title defence, but Taliah Simbolon says the team is determined to reclaim the championship.

“We want to get that championship back. I know the girls are working hard to get to the finals again and really push to win the whole tournament,” Simbolon said.

“The competitiveness we have as a team is really good, and it shows on the field.”

West Belconnen had a strong season in League Tag, reaching the preliminary final, and they’ll be looking to go a step further in 2025.

Warriors League Tagger Sara Lang spoke about how the team is shaping up and the opportunity they have in round one against three-time consecutive premiers, the Woden Valley Rams.

“We’ve got a few new girls, and we’ve lost a few, but we’re all pretty confident that we should go pretty close again this year,” Lang said.

“It’s a good opportunity to verse them [Woden] first round. It gives us an indication of where we’re at and what we need to work on.”

The West Belconnen Warriors emerged as a dark horse in Reserve Grade last season, putting together a strong campaign to finish as minor premiers.

After pushing the Bulls to the limit but falling just short in a two-point preliminary final loss, the Warriors are expected to be serious contenders in 2025.

Meanwhile, in the Under 19s, West Belconnen struggled to build momentum in 2024, finishing with a 3-10 record. They’ll be aiming for a much stronger campaign in 2025.