Life Members

Norm Dorling

Norm coached the Warragul Colts for roughly 17 years and the Interleague side for 9 years. His involvement in the league has also extended to match officiation, umpiring for 28 years with the Gippsland Umpires Association and becoming the GUA's most senior umpire.

His most enjoyed aspect of the league is being able to see the kids develop as football players and watching them as they transition from junior sides to senior sides where he still enjoys catching up with those he used to coach.

Norm has been a goal umpire in the W&DJFL Grand Finals from 1988 to 2015.

Jeanette Wright

Jeanette's association with the league has spanned across three decades, beginning with her 16 year stint as registration secretary. From there her responsibilities grew to league secretary and eventually to junior vice-president.

Her time with the league was also on a club level spending seven years as Warranor's secretary.

Jeanette donates the Lightning Premiership and Premiership trophies for the league winners each year as she felt the players deserved a solid token of their hard work as in the past winners only recieved a pennant.

Wright said the most important part of the W&DJFL for her was having the kids out and exercising in the fresh air and that the league provides a venue for such a large number of kids that want to play football to come together and enjoy that space.

Frank Ahern

With 34 years at the helm as coach of the Warragul Colts and having been an attendee of 47 consecutive Grand Finals, Frank Ahern is the league's most treasured veteran.

Frank is old-school when it comes to junior football and he stands firm when it comes to instilling the players with the right values and making sure they understand what is the right thing to do, behaving correctly.

Jason Walters

Jason Walters began his association with the W&DJFL in 1997. Walters contributes his expertise as an umpiring advisor and umpire for the juniors; putting in his time for over 16 years.

He finds the concept of junior development integral to the league's quality, finding satisfaction in seeing the juniors progress. Western Bulldogs veteran Robert Murphy umpired alongside Walters in his earlier days at the Colts football club.

One of Jason's most fond moments of the W&DJFL was the U12 Grand Final in the Early 2000s between Hallora and Drouin where a young Dale Thomas tore apart a dominant Drouin side. The devastating upset win saw bottom-ager Thomas carry his team through to victory.

Anthony Hibbs

Hibbsy first began with the league in 2002 as Warragul Colts coach. Anthony transitioned from club coach, to interleague coach and finally to becoming the league's president in 2005.

Anthony's own kids have progressed through the W&DJFL system but he remains to see others transition from U10 to U14 levels, coming together as a sporting community on a Saturday morning - keeping the kids in an active and structured lifestyle.