It was the closest football competition in Melbourne last year and the action is set to be just as hot in Division 1 of the Northern Football League in 2015.
Reigning premier Greensborough last week started its premiership defence in fine fashion, overcoming Eltham by 38 points on the back of strong performances from returning talls Tim Atkins and Josh Riddle.
Despite losing leading goal kicker Tim Bongetti to Seymour, the Boro’s new additions have them primed to challenge again under new coach Ben Turner, who has taken the reins from Robert Hyde.
2011 club champion Nick Riddle has returned on a full-time basis and will team up with Daniel McLinden and Matthew Hyde to make one of the most formidable defensive units in the competition.
A runner-up in four of the past five seasons, Heidelberg has bolstered its stocks with the acquisition of former St Kilda and Wangaratta Rovers forward Daniel Archer.
Archer will team up with Jordan Treloar and Chaz Sargeant inside forward 50 as the Tigers aim to become a more attacking team this year after scoring the third fewest points in the 2014 home and away season.
On the back of its first foray into the Division 1 finals since 1972, Macleod is being tipped as one of the premiership fancies in 2015.
The Kangaroos have added Whittlesea forward Lucas Hobbs to their playing list, along with Mernda midfielder Jack Bianchin who previously played with the club in 2012.
Fourth and fifth respectively last year, competition powerhouses Montmorency and Bundoora have both regenerated their playing lists in the off-season.
The Magpies enter the 2015 campaign with a new coach in Ben Haynes, but will be without a host of stars, including captain Ryan Jackson, Shane Tennant, Ryan Willits and Harley Ryan.
In their place the Magpies have welcomed back James Brooker from Blackburn and Williamstown midfielder Stephen McCallum, who will both add experience to what is expected to be young side led by Craig Flint and Jesse Donaldson.
Bundoora will also be a different looking side in 2015 and goes into the new season without Cameron Cloke, Brayden Shaw, David Mitchell and Trent Barbero.
The Bulls have been able to add Avondale Heights brothers Josh and Nick Grabowski, as well as exciting youngster Liam Byrne and two-time premiership defender Ben Shelton, who returns after a season at Croydon.
Despite missing out on finals football in 2014, West Preston-Lakeside, Lower Plenty, Northcote Park and Eltham have all enjoyed positive pre-seasons and all will be confident of improvement this year.
Leigh Cole takes over from Frank Raso as coach of West Preston-Lakeside and will be assisted by Hawthorn premiership ruckman Brent Renouf. On the field, the Roosters will be bolstered by the addition of former AFL midfielder David Rodan and Epping forward Aaron Willitts.
Lower Plenty is expected to be a major improver in Vin Dattoli’s third season at the helm following a fruitful recruiting drive. Amongst the new faces at the Bears are star midfielder Heath Ayres and reigning Northcote Park best and fairest winner Doug Morris.
Great change has swept through Northcote Park over the summer as Morwell playing-coach Harmit Singh replaces Jason Heatley in the top job and brings with him a wealth of talent from across the state.
Former Collingwood star Tarkyn Lockyer joins midfielder Wayne Schultz, ruckman Joel West and a host of other VFL-listed players at Bill Lawry Oval as the Cougars look to rise from an eighth-placed finish last season.
Despite a loss in last week’s season opener, Eltham looks a much better unit in Mario Bandera’s second year as coach.
Bradyn Taglieri has returned to the club on a permanent basis and has been joined by former Morrish Medal winner Anton Woods, Williamstown tall Stephen Witkowski and former Bundoora defender Matthew Evans.
Key forward James Kroussoratis looks to have taken his game to a new level following a pre-season with Coburg and was a star with eight goals in last week’s loss to Greensborough.
Back in Division 1 for the first time since 2011, North Heidelberg has kept the majority of the list that dominated the Division 2 competition last year.
One new face in Bulldogs colours will be former Northcote Park tall Simon Andrews, who has been a dominant goal kicker for Mallee in recent seasons.
Continue below to see your club’s player movements ahead of the continuation of the opening round of action.
BUNDOORA FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Phil Plunkett
Last year: 10 wins – 9 losses (fifth)
IN: Liam Byrne (South Bendigo), Dom Dean Spagnolo (Moonee Valley), Josh DiMarco (North Brunswick), Josh Grabowski (Avondale Heights), Nick Grabowski (Avondale Heights), Brenton Keating (Epping), Blair Kelly (Avondale Heights), Jack Philpot (Parkside), Nicholas Sheldon (Kilmore), Ben Shelton (Croydon), Luke Simpson (Kilmore), Kane Slater (Northcote Park), Josh Summers (Diamond Creek)
OUT: Trent Barbero (Airport West), Matthew Brown (Glenroy), Cameron Cloke (Craigieburn), Matthew Evans (Eltham), Matthew Ferraro (Thomastown), Neil Gloury (Pascoe Vale), Robert Graham (Reservoir), Glenn Grgic (Bundoora), Thomas McEwan (Mernda), David Mitchell (Strathmore), Brayden Shaw (Hurstbridge)
Coach says: “The one thing we have spoken about is that this is very similar to what happened at Heidelberg last year. There was a mass exodus and everyone was writing them off and yet they were the first team to be able to go through to the Grand Final last year. That’s another bit of inspiration that we can take from that.”
ELTHAM FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Mario Bandera
Last year: 3 wins – 15 losses (ninth)
IN: Matthew Evans (Bundoora), Jye Lorey (Montmorency), James McLean-Brunton (Heidelberg West), Oscar Philp-Taylor (Banyule), Michael Still (West Adelaide), Bailey Taglieri (Bundoora), Bradyn Taglieri (Northern Blues), Stephen Witkowski (Williamstown), Anton Woods (Williamstown)
OUT: Matthew Keys (Shepparton Swans), Jay Neagle (Traralgon Tyres)
Coach says: “Going in this year we had a bit more of an idea where our list was at and what we sort of needed. We earmarked that a strong midfield was something that was needed and I think we’ve gone a long way to cementing ourselves as probably going into the year with one of the strongest two or three midfields in the comp.”
GREENSBOROUGH FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Ben Turner (new)
Last year: 17 wins – 5 losses (premier)
IN: Tim Atkins (Mernda), Konrad Bruhn (Bundoora), Samuel Bullen (La Trobe), John Desmond (St Mary’s), Joshua Doherty (Old Ivanhoe), Matthew Haynes (Old Carey), Jordan Perry (Ivanhoe), Josh Riddle (overseas), Nick Wooley (Pomona)
OUT: Tim Bongetti (Seymour), Drew Wilson (retired)
Coach says: “We have earned a reputation in recent years for blooding kids and that will continue this year. I think our improvement will come from these kids. We need to keep encouraging them to take that next step, and it will keep a few of the older guys honest.”
HEIDELBERG FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Craig Hunter
Last year: 16 wins – 4 losses (runner-up)
IN: Daniel Archer (Wangaratta Rovers), Chris Cullinan (Murchison), Jack Crowe (Yea), Jordan Gaylard (Ashwood), Sam Gilmore (West Preston-Lakeside), William Graf (Euroa), Matthew Hurley (Shepparton), Jerome Iezzi (Marcellin), Ben Irving (Northcote Park)
OUT: Thomas Brown (Taylors Lakes), Josh Hicks (Wodonga), Tom Shepherd (Leitchville Gunbower)
Coach says: “Our ball movement is something that we have put an emphasis on this pre-season. We have some firepower up forward, so moving the ball quickly will give those guys the best opportunity to hit the scoreboard. We kept sides in games a lot last year because we were unable to put them away.”
LOWER PLENTY FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Vin Dattoli
Last year: 9 wins – 9 losses (seventh)
IN: Heath Ayres (Deer Park), Steven Berengo (Old Xaverians), Wilson King (Essendon Doutta Stars), Debri Kutrolli (West Coburg), Doug Morris (Northcote Park), Justin Raiti (South Mildura)
OUT: Oliver Parks (Old Ivanhoe), Jackson Powell (Mulwala), Damien Smith (West Preston-Lakeside), Joseph Vaccaro (Thomastown)
Coach says: “We’re really trying to set ourselves on making finals this year and if we can achieve that we’ll obviously be ecstatic. Without taking anything for granted because everyone is fully aware of how tight the competition is, but we were ecstatic last year with our progression.”
MACLEOD FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Garry Ramsay
Last year: 12 wins – 9 losses (third)
IN: Jack Bianchin (Mernda), Liam Brandt (Northcote Park), Lucas Hobbs (Whittlesea), Michael Milner (Mernda)
OUT: Daniel Haynes (Panton Hill), Kyle Shepard-Mueller (Banyule)
Coach says: “We can no longer play the underdog tag. It’s not okay just to compete anymore; there are no more honourable losses.The expectation around the club from supporters, the committee and the players themselves is a lot higher than it’s ever been…we’ve got to enjoy that.”
MONTMORENCY FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Ben Haynes (new)
Last year: 11 wins – 9 losses (fourth)
IN: James Brooker (Blackburn), Rowan Hore (Montrose), Liam Hunt (Prahran Assumption), Stephen McCallum (Essendon Doutta Stars), Alex Potter (Mayne)
OUT: Mitchell Anderson (Panton Hill), Daniel Coghill (Doncaster East), Luke Jackson (East Burwood), Ryan Jackson, Wayne Pavitt (South Morang), Harley Ryan (Lalor), Shane Tennant (Doncaster East), Jake Whitling (Doncaster East), Ryan Willits (West Adelaide)
Coach says: “We’ve got some really good kids coming through which has been terrific. Our top end I think is pretty solid. My challenge is to develop that middle tier and our depth. That’s one area where we probably fell away this year.”
NORTH HEIDELBERG FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Steve Saddington
Last year: 19 wins – 2 losses (Division 2 premier)
IN: Mitchell Brewer (Romsey), Simon Andrews (Mallee), Kyle McDonald (Greensborough), Kenneth Souter (Lalor)
OUT: Casey Brown (Heidelberg West), Cameron Conlon (Whittlesea), Blake Holmes (Ellenbrook), Cal Nicholls (Bright)
Club says: “It’s the old cliche really – we’ll be taking it one week at a time. If we can win a couple early and get no injuries, who knows what can happen from there. We recruited pretty heavily last season when we won the flag, we were chasing Division 1-calibre players. (This year) we’ve picked up Simon Andrews from up Swan Hill way who is a big key forward and key back.”
NORTHCOTE PARK FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Harmit Singh (new)
Last year: 7 wins – 1 draw – 10 losses (eighth)
IN: Bryn Barnes-Webb (Echuca United), Jesse Bowe (Yinnar), Ash Close (Morwell), Jordan Collopy (Old Xaverians), Tarkyn Lockyer (Morwell), Jake Mills (Mallee Eagles), Rohan Nolan (PEGS), Wayne Schultz (Morwell), Harmit Singh (Morwell), Joel West (St Albans)
OUT: Liam Brandt (Macleod), James Hodder (Diamond Creek), Ben Irving (Heidelberg), Jason Kennedy (Balwyn), Daniel Ledda (Ainslie Tricolours), Jai Middleton (Scotch OC), Doug Morris (Lower Plenty), Paul Scanlon (Seymour), Kane Slater (Bundoora)
Coach says: “(We’ll play) a brand that is obviously defensively based, for me that’s what wins finals. But also the ability that once we win the ball to transition very quickly. I think our speed of ball will be very important, we’ve worked on that all pre-season. It’s obviously important to get numbers back and restrict the opposition, but once (we) win it, we’ll move the ball as quick as most sides.”
WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE FOOTBALL CLUB
Coach: Leigh Cole (new)
Last year: 9 wins – 1 draw – 8 losses (sixth)
IN: Matthew Hands (Parkside), Billy Hogan (Parkside), Paul Johnson (De La Salle), Jacob Raemakers (returned), David Rodan (Melbourne), Jack Schultz (Ellinbank), Damien Smith (Lower Plenty), Aaron Willitts (Epping)
OUT: Sam Gilmore (Heidelberg), Alex Gleeson (Elmore), Niall McDonagh (South Bendigo), Adrian Natoli (Thomastown), Steven Shaw (Bacchus Marsh), Peter Shepherd (Bacchus Marsh), Travis Stevens (South Morang)
Coach says: “I think (missing finals last year) stung them a little bit. They probably dropped a couple of games during the season they didn’t expect to drop and to only miss out by half a game was really a kick in the guts at the end of the year. The feeling among the senior group is they’re really keen to play finals this year and they’ve set themselves up pretty well to do that during pre-season.”
