NEW Banyule recruit Scott Gumbleton is likely to make his NFL debut against Heidelberg West next weekend, according to coach Jason Plant.
The former Essendon and Fremantle forward signed with the Division 3 outfit last week and will lodge his clearance from Peel Thunder ahead of the Bears’ clash with the Hawks at Heidelberg Park over the Queen’s Birthday weekend.
Picked by Essendon with selection No.2 in the 2006 AFL national draft, Gumbleton’s AFL career was cut short by persistent back and hamstring injuries.
The 26-year-old played 35 games with the Bombers before joining Fremantle at the conclusion of the 2013 season. He didn’t add to his games tally with the Dockers and retired in 2014.
Plant said the addition of the mobile tall was positive news for Banyule after a difficult start to the 2015 season.
Since winning its first game, Banyule has lost its past five matches to sit sixth on the Division 3 ladder ahead of its second bye of the season.
“The signing came through late last week and while it was obviously a disappointing day on Saturday (losing to South Morang), but it was probably the bright news that we needed when you have such a tough loss,” Plant said.
“Our assistant coach Ash Brown is the player welfare manager at Essendon and we have quite a close connection with the club.
“Ash has stayed in contact with Scott since he’s left Essendon and basically Scott wanted to come back to Melbourne so we’re happy that he decided to sign up with us.
“He and his partner have been living in Perth for a while and they’re both keen to settle down in Melbourne again.”
Plant said Gumbleton will be used predominantly as a key forward, but might also spend time up the ground as a back-up ruckman.
Gumbleton’s addition comes at a welcome time for Banyule as it searches for its second win of the season.
Since beating Heidelberg West by 69 points in Round 1, the Bears have lost five successive games. The first four of those defeats were by an average of only 15 points, before a 95-point drubbing at the hands of South Morang last Saturday.
Plant said the addition of Gumbleton alone wouldn’t change his club’s on-field fortunes, believing the entire team needed to play to a more consistent level.
“Our vice captain Luke Giles has been really good but we’ve had patchy form, no one else has really strung too many good games together.
“There was a big build-up for the first game against Heidelberg West. I don’t think we played that well that game. It could have gone either way although the result was pretty overwhelming in the end.
“It was a really good start and then we just dropped the ball in the St Mary’s. Whether it was sub-conscious or not, we were complacent and they were really good.
“Apart from that game, our effort has been really good and we’ve been around about. A bounce of the ball either way and the results could have gone differently.
“Obviously Saturday was a really tough day and we got completely outplayed by a better side.”
Sitting three games outside the top four, Plant said his club’s major focus was on next week’s clash with Heidelberg West.
“We’d have to start winning pretty quickly (to play finals) but to be honest, we’re not even looking at that,” he said.
“We’re just focused on winning our next game. If we win one, then hopefully we can string two together. That’s about as far as we’re looking at the moment.”
