Football
2 April, 2026
WFNL 2026 preview: Rats eye history
Aiming for their fourth premiership in a row, Ararat are again expected to be a formidable power again this season, but in season 2026, they will be guided solely by former AFL player Tom Williamson.
The club's director of footy, Corey Taylor, spoke with Wimmera Mallee News about the 2026 season and shared the side's desire and need to improve to remain competitive this year.
"We know we need to continue to improve the standard we played at last season because that probably won't cut it this year," he said.
"We are the hunted within the league, and all sides will be aiming to get better, so if we don't improve by 10 to 15 per cent as well, we will be back in the pack.
"So we have been working at continuing to get better, and hopefully that holds us in good stead moving into the year."
Although Ararat were dominant in 2025, Taylor said there were plenty of areas for the side to work on ahead of this year.
"Tom's reflected over our 2025 season heavily and critiqued us hard, so we have been able to find multiple areas in our game where we feel as though we need to improve on," said Taylor.
"And this is what we have worked on pretty significantly during the preseason."
One area, Taylor revealed, the side had been working on was their team defence.
"It's been an area of focus during the preseason," he added.
Ararat has retained a large majority of players from last season and has also announced that Brayden Ferguson will be back in the red and white this season, after spending time in the Central Highlands Football League.
"He's got a really strong work ethic, he's really determined and hunts the ball," Taylor said.
"We think he will provide another dimension through the backline and midfield area as he goes pretty hard."
And despite looking for their fourth premiership in a row, Taylor said external motivation won't be behind their plight in 2026.
"We look at it internally, just to continue challenging each other internally and competing on the track, pushing each other," he said.
"We know if we are able to motivate each other internally and make each other better, that will have a bigger effect from the team point of view."