The Griffith Black and Whites will field an improved team as they look to return to the finals in 2026 following the announcement of several key off-season signings.

In Short

Star Recruits: The club has secured utility Isaiah Nauer and halfback Isaiah Buerckner-Little from local rivals to bolster the 2026 roster.

Culture Shift: Coach Kodie Charles is enforcing a strict "no train, no play" policy to fix discipline issues that hampered the 2025 season.

Youth Foundation: After a difficult 2025, the club is leaning on successful junior graduates and local pathways to fight for a Top 5 finish.

Headlining the recruitment drive is the acquisition of two young talents from local rivals Waratahs and Yenda, in the form of utility Isaiah Nauer and halfback Isaiah Buerckner-Little.

Recently re-signed Black and Whites coach Kodie Charles said that the pair finally made the move over the off-season after previously expressing a desire to join the club.

“It sort of all happened towards the end of this year, the footy season, they were always keen to come across and we just said finish the season off and we’ll talk later on after that,” he said.

“They were keen to come across, and they’re the sort of young kids that we want at the club, people that want to be there for the right reasons.

“They’re going to be a good impact for the team, especially Isaiah Nauer, in the forwards you’ve got that aggression, he’s played down in the Canberra competition.

“Isaiah Little, he’s got a bright future ahead of him too, he can play halves, he can play fullback, but I think he’s dangerous in the halves, he’s going to be an asset.”

After charging from fifth to make the Grand Final in 2024, the Black and Whites missed the finals last season, finishing sixth after battling with Hay, Yanco-Wamoon and Yenda for the last two playoff spots.

Looking back on the 2025 campaign, Charles admitted that while the side did underachieve, the foundations were laid for a stronger culture based around hard work, which is already showing in the pre-season.

“There’s no doubt, we built towards the end of last year putting plays in at training, [and] players that weren’t training, we were dropping them,” he said.

“We sort of cleaned out the closet this year, and hopefully next year everyone knows what’s going to happen going forward, you don’t train, you don’t play.

“I could have put blokes in the team at the back end of the year that weren’t training, but I’m not getting anywhere, I’m not getting discipline [doing that].

“So we’re starting from the ground up, working with our discipline, and it’s only going to be better and brighter for next year.”

One thing Charles is firmly focused on is enforcing a set of standards designed to increase the performance of his side.

Some of the driving forces in the implementation of these new standards at the club have been its young stars, who have emerged from a successful junior system over the past few seasons.

Players such as Nate Sergi, Mekhi Simpson, Jasvir Singh-Clark and Corey Charles have re-signed with the club after emerging from its pathways teams already with a taste of prior grade football experience.

Coach Kodie, the uncle of Corey, said that the success the group experienced during their seasons in the Under 16s and 18s competitions has only fuelled their desire to work harder and chase more of the same as they continue to develop into consistent first graders.

“They’ve got that competitiveness in them, and they know how to win games,” he said.

“To win games you’ve got to train, you’ve got to train Tuesdays and Thursdays, every week, week in, week out, and football comes second nature.

“Without those kids this year, I really think we would have struggled to finish where we finished, we probably would have come last without the kids this year, because they were a big asset to the first grade team.

“They were playing full games of 18s, and then some of them were stepping up to play [in the] run-on [team] straight into first grade or reserve grade.

“If it wasn’t for those young kids, the club would be struggling.”

As for where Charles sees the team finishing the 2026 campaign, the experienced mentor repeated a classic bush footy adage.

“It’s an old saying, if we can make the top five, it’s anyone’s game to get into the GF or take it out,” he said.

“Like I said, if we just get that discipline on board like we’ve slowly started to work on, and everyone buys in, if we can achieve the top five, we’re in contention.”

The new Group 20 season is set to kick off in April.