Footy training for bayside & the inner south-east
From Port Melbourne down the bay to Mentone and across to Oakleigh, this is the most crowded footy country in the state: two Talent League programs, a deep amateur competition, and more VFL sides within a short drive than anywhere else.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.
Bayside and the inner south-east are split between two Talent League clubs by home address: the Sandringham Dragons, who take most South Metro Junior Football League players, and the Oakleigh Chargers, who take a small number of SMJFL players and — with the Northern Knights — most Yarra Junior Football League clubs. Senior footy runs through the Southern Football Netball League and the VAFA.
Five VFL sides play nearby: Sandringham, St Kilda (at Moorabbin), Port Melbourne, Richmond and Collingwood.
Find your club in Bayside & the inner south-east
Every club with a home ground in each council, its ground, and the league and grades it plays — pick the council you live in.
Bayside
12 clubs across Cheltenham, Brighton and Brighton East and more.
See the clubsBoroondara
14 clubs across Glen Iris, Kew and Hawthorn and more.
See the clubsGlen Eira
9 clubs across Bentleigh, Carnegie and Caulfield South and more.
See the clubsKingston
12 clubs across Mentone, Parkdale and Highett and more.
See the clubsMonash
11 clubs across Glen Waverley, Wheelers Hill and Clayton and more.
See the clubsPort Phillip
8 clubs across St Kilda, Port Melbourne and Albert Park.
See the clubsStonnington
9 clubs across Glen Iris, South Yarra and Malvern East and more.
See the clubsYarra
3 clubs across Richmond and Fairfield.
See the clubsWhich club your address belongs to
Two Talent League clubs recruit here, by residential address. Neither publishes its boundary at council level, so check before you assume.
- Sandringham Dragons
- Administration and training base at Moorabbin; games at Trevor Barker Beach Oval, Sandringham. Most South Metro Junior Football League players are zoned here.
- Oakleigh Chargers
- Based at Warrawee Park, Oakleigh. Takes a small number of South Metro players and, with the Northern Knights, most Yarra Junior Football League clubs.
Players move from junior football into a Talent League program after the under-15 interleague year. Your junior league can confirm which of the two your address belongs to.
The competitions
- South Metro Junior Football League
- Junior football across bayside and the south, feeding mostly the Sandringham Dragons.
- Yarra Junior Football League
- Junior football across the inner east and north. Most of its clubs sit in the Oakleigh Chargers or Northern Knights zones.
- Southern Football Netball League
- Senior football across the south and south-east — clubs in 2026 included Bentleigh, Cheltenham, Hampton, Highett, East Brighton, Black Rock, Murrumbeena, St Paul’s McKinnon and Port Melbourne Colts.
- Victorian Amateur Football Association
- Amateur clubs across the metro area — the bayside and inner south-east have many of them.
- Sandringham
- VFL, at Trevor Barker Beach Oval.
- St Kilda
- VFL — the Saints’ reserves side, back in the VFL in 2026, at Moorabbin Oval.
- Port Melbourne
- VFL, at North Port Oval.
- Richmond
- VFL, at Punt Road Oval.
- Collingwood
- VFL, at Victoria Park.
Set it up for Bayside & the inner south-east
Four things, in the order the app asks them. None of them needs a coach.
Choose footy, then your team nights
Onboarding asks “When do you train with your team?” Pick your club nights — South Metro Junior Football League or wherever you play — and your gym and conditioning are scheduled around them, lighter the day after a big one. Tell it your equipment and any niggles and every exercise is fitted to both.
Match the program to your league’s start
The app treats March as the start of the AFL season. If your league does not start until mid-April, set your season phase yourself and stay in pre-season a few weeks longer. The phase lives in Program → Your year.
Know your numbers on day one
Your first testing session is ready immediately: 2km time trial, Bench press 1RM, Max pull-ups, Trap-bar deadlift 1RM, Running vertical jump. It is re-run every 8 weeks, and the results re-price your training weights and conditioning paces.
Put your suburb on the board
In Social → Town, set where you train. Your minutes count toward that town’s weekly conditioning and strength top-10 boards — only the town is kept, never your location.
What you start with, by the month you join
Every block is four weeks — three building, one deload — so a free month is one complete block. The footy calendar and conditions are on the Melbourne guide.
Coaching a side in Bayside & the inner south-east?
A club licence is A$8 per player, per month (minimum 5), and every player on it gets full Train Smart membership at no cost to them. You write the block once, it lands in each player’s app, and the console shows who actually did it.
Footy in Bayside & the inner south-east: questions
Am I zoned to the Sandringham Dragons or the Oakleigh Chargers?
Where do the Sandringham Dragons train and play?
Which VFL clubs are in bayside and inner south-east Melbourne?
Where these facts come from
Checked September 2026. Zones, grades and dates change — if something here is out of date, the governing body is right and we are wrong.
Nearby and related
Melbourne
The leagues, the season and every region across Melbourne.
OpenMelbourne’s west
Footy training for Melbourne’s western suburbs — the Western Jets zone from Werribee to Melton, the WFNL and VAFA, and the VFL clubs in the west.
OpenMelbourne’s north-west
Footy training for Melbourne’s north-west — the Calder Cannons zone from Essendon to Craigieburn and the Macedon Ranges, the EDFL, and four VFL clubs.
OpenTurn up to round one already fit
Pick footy, tell it your team nights, and your first block and testing session are ready before you leave the car park.
One month free, then A$24.99/month. Cancel any time. iPhone and iPad.