AFTER a busy off-season, the 2014 season is upon us.
Football returns on Friday night when Northcote Park hosts West Preston-Lakeside at Bill Lawry Oval from 7:30pm – six months after Bundoora claimed a famous Grand Final victory over Montmorency.
There has been plenty of player movement within Division 1 – with the competition looking at its most competitive season in recent memory.
Whittlesea returns to the top flight after just a one-year stay in Division 2, while Bundoora will be looking to achieve back-to-back premiership success – something it was unable to do after winning the 2011 flag.
Powerhouse Heidelberg has been one of the main talking points during the summer months, with a host Tiger legends leaving Warringal Park in the post season.
Eltham has also undergone a significant regeneration since playing in its first finals series in three years. Former AFL forward Jay Neagle has joined the Panthers, although Paul Currie, Brad Perry and Jackson Weatherald have all departed.
Meantime, Macleod, West Preston-Lakeside, Greensborough and Lower Plenty have all recruited well as they look to move themselves inside the top five.
Continue below to see your club’s player movements ahead of this weekend’s opening round of action.
BUNDOORA
Coach: Phil Plunkett
Last year: 16 wins – 6 losses (premier)
IN: Tim Aumann (Tarrawingee), Konrad Bruhn (Greensborough), Brad Czerny (Broadford), Luke Germanchis (Violet Town), Brod Gray (Whittlesea), Anthony Hogan (Bayswater)
OUT: Micheal Farrelly (Beulah), Michael Mitchell (UTS Bats), Michael Ryan (Hurstbridge), Ben Shelton (Croydon), Andrew Stellas (Greensborough)
Coach says: “The team has gone from being the hunter to the hunted. We know everyone will be out there trying to knock us off. We’re trying hard, not leaving any stone unturned and we’ve got to make sure we’re really competitive again.”
ELTHAM
Coach: Mario Bandera (new)
Last year: 8 wins – 11 losses (fifth)
IN: Sean Bolger (Epping), Leigh Catoggio (Hurstbridge), Jay Neagle (Korumburra), Stephen Murray (Wodonga), Brendan Ryan (Doncaster East)
OUT: Dylan Campbell (Northcote Park), Paul Currie (Shepparton), Chris Duck (East Malvern), Ryan Hocking (Leitchville), Luke McNeil (Lavington), Brad Perry (Leitchville), Jackson Weatherald (Balwyn)
Coach says: “There has been a regeneration so we’re not going to judge our season purely on comparing it to what we achieved last season. Yes, we aim to play finals and we want to play finals, but it’s not the be-all judging factor for us.”
GREENSBOROUGH
Coach: Robert Hyde
Last year: 6 wins – 1 draw – 11 losses (eighth)
IN: Jack Didier (Port Douglas), Daniel McLinden (Rochester), Michael Hooper (Oak Park), Andrew Stellas (Bundoora)
OUT: Konrad Bruhn (Bundoora), Daniel Bryant (Mernda), Tait Forster (Panton Hill), Conlan Gunn (Wakool), Luke Harbinson (Foster), Dane Robertson (North Old Boys), Taylor Veal (Foster)
Coach says: “We can’t go out and buy a lot of players so we’re developing the kids we’ve got. We’ve targeted a few areas we thought we needed to strengthen. McLinden is a great pick up, and Hooper is a fantastic pick up.”
HEIDELBERG
Coach: Craig Hunter (new)
Last year: 13 wins – 7 losses (fourth)
IN: Paul Bower (Peel Thunder, pictured below), Charles Gaylard (Albury), Josh Gribben (Castlemaine), Jarrod Hodgkin (Balwyn), Ben Kerton (Marcellin), Callum Lewis (Donvale), Joshua Lidyard (Old Paradians), James McGrath (Whitehorse), Matthew Pianto (Castlemaine), Tom Shepherd (Banyule)
OUT: Jamie Allan (Wangaratta), Adam Coff (North Shore), Fabian Dorbolo (Beulah), Will Drapac (Macleod), Mark Favrin (Monbulk), Michael Gay (Mornington), Joel Harris (Wangaratta), Rhys Healey (Koondrook), Josh Houlihan (Airport West), Sean Logie (South Mildura), Mark Lynch (Aberfeldie), Justin Murphy (Knox), George Nabbout (Essendon-Doutta Stars), Dale Nolan (Mornington), Danny Nolan (Mornington), Lance Oswald (Aberfeldie), Jarryd Smith (West Coburg), Adam Symes (Mornington)
President says: "To be quite honest we don’t know where we sit."
LOWER PLENTY
Coach: Vin Dattoli
Last year: 4 wins – 14 losses (ninth)
IN: Adam Dennis (Glenroy), David Di Stefano (Donvale), Matthew Neill (Lower Plenty), Oliver Parks (Diamond Creek), Dillan Ronalds (St Mary’s), Clinton Runnalls (Barooga), Damian Smith (West Preston-Lakeside), Joseph Vaccaro (West Preston-Lakeside)
OUT: Dylan Atkins (Hurstbridge), Hugh Kavanagh (Diamond Creek), Leighton O’Donnell (Banyule), Jake Paterson (Foster), Adam Walker (Lakes Entrance)
Coach says: “Last year we were a bit generous with giving games out, which is okay because it was part of the development. But there will be a lot more pressure on guys really knuckling down within that application because our game plan is built on work rate. We’re going to have a much harder edge than last year.”
MACLEOD
Coach: Garry Ramsay
Last year: 7 wins – 1 draw – 10 losses (sixth)
IN: Charlie Bradshaw (Camperdown), Will Drapac (Heidelberg), Sean Driscoll (Banyule), Daniel Haynes (Epping), Jack Langford (Banyule), Nick Lynch (Banyule), Kyle Shepard-Mueller (Banyule), Jason Wood (Marcellin)
OUT: David Adams (Maffra), Nicholas Brannelly (Macleod), Ryan Harris (Macquarie), Matthew Veszpremi (Pascoe Vale)
Coach says: “The expectations are a lot higher. We’ll go in each week expecting to win, no matter who it is against and no matter where it’s at. There are no more excuses and saying we’re young. A lot of blokes should be in the prime of their football now.”
MONTMORENCY
Coach: Bryan Cole
Last year: 16 wins – 4 losses (runner-up)
IN: David Attard (Wodonga), Ben Fennell (Hurstbridge), Jake Kalanj (Eltham), Joel McLellan (Montmorency), Daniel O’Regan (Diamond Creek)
OUT: James Brooker (Blackburn), Chris Burton (Diamond Creek), Alik Magin (Avondale Heights), James Molinaro (Golden Square), Rowan Nayna (Greenvale)
Coach says: “Joel (McLellan) might not be ready for the start of the season, but when he does come in to the side he will enable us to move Ryan (Willits) forward, which really should be a big difference for us.”
NORTHCOTE PARK
Coach: Jason Heatley
Last year: 14 wins – 7 losses (third)
IN: Liam Brandt (Epping), Liam Carter (Northern Blues), Dylan Campbell (Eltham), Shannan Ciaverella (Epping), Hal Hunter (Essendon), Jason Kennedy (East Burwood), Scott Krakouer (Yarraville), Henry Mason (UNSW), Daniel Santoro (Epping), Luke Svarc (Essendon-Doutta Stars), Tom Walliss (Watsonia)
OUT: Matthew Deledio (Lockington Bamawm), Shaun Lorenzini (retired), Kane Maghamez (Forest Hill), Harley Short (Roxburgh Park), Joseph Woonton (Merrivale)
Coach says: “Our expectation now is for these guys to be treated as young men. They’re not kids anymore and we’re expecting them to step up to the mark. Competition for spots is really going to be on. We need these guys to not only be competitive in games, but competitive amongst themselves on the track.”
WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE
Coach: Frank Raso
Last year: 7 wins – 11 losses (seventh)
IN: Anthony Bonaddio (S Morang), Aaron Davey (Melbourne), Joshua Beare (Thomastown), Paul Di Giuseppe (Pascoe Vale), Alroy Gilligan (Claremont), Steven Hiho (Reservoir), Kirk Lang (Avondale Heights), Luke Lirosi (Epping), Joel McDonald (Oak Park), Harley Nancarrow (Epping), Michael O’Neill (Epping), Peter Shepherd (Epping), Oliver Tate (North Ballarat), Nathan Valladares (Oak Park)
OUT: Luke Crowley (Kilmore), Benjamin Peters (Bacchus Marsh), Damien Smith (Lower Plenty), Joseph Vaccaro (Lower Plenty)
Coach says: “We were one game clear inside the finals with three games to go last year but just had too many injuries. It must be some sort of record, we played 53 players last year. We’re going along the lines of improving from within.”
WHITTLESEA
Coach: Brad Dean (new)
Last year: 18 wins – 3 losses (Division 2 premier)
IN: James Behan (Diamond Creek), Luke Chapman (Kilmore), Janan Daniel (injury), Matt Dornauf (Epping), Mitch Scholard (Maroochydore)
OUT: Tom Bonson (Lalor), Brod Gray (Bundoora), Paul Harrison (Kilmore), Garrett Heenan (Craigieburn), Marcus Webb (Kilmore)
Coach says: “The expectation for me is to just compete in every single game. We want to get a reputation of a side that just doesn’t give up no matter what the situation is. The short term goal is to just turn up quarter by quarter and just have a really red-hot go and never give up.”
