Northcote Park heads into the season as the reigning champion and looks to have a settled squad as it aims to defend its title.
The Cougars have lost premiership players Jake Mills and Daniel Flynn (and potential Anthony Hogan), but have included a number of key players, including Tim Walsh, Jai Middleton and Kane Maghamez.
Heidelberg will again be a serious contender this season and Tigers have assembled a list that will provide sleepless nights for opposition coaches.
Brad Miller, Jamie Allen, Mark Favrin and Jordan Treloar have all landed at Warringal Park in the off-season as the Tigers aim to break a run of three consecutive Grand Final losses.
Bundoora and Montmorency will again by in the upper reaches of the Division 1 ladder and have both recruited well in the summer.
The Bulls have signed former Essendon midfielder Ricky Dyson, Chris Varsamakis and Nathan Thomas, while Montmorency has added Harley Ryan, Mark McKenzie, Rowan Nayna and Ryan Willits to its list.
The race for places in the lower reaches of the top five looks intense with challenges set to come from a number of clubs – including West Preston-Lakeside, Eltham, Greensborough and Macleod to name a few.
The Roosters have lost a host of key players, however new recruits Alex Gleeson and Xavier Clarke will add greatly to the midfield.
Eltham’s pre-season has been promising as it looks to emulate its form from the first half of last season, while Greensborough’s exciting young list will develop under Robert Hyde, who has returned home as senior coach.
Garry Ramsay has taken the top job at Macleod and is fitting in well to life at De Winton Park. The Kangaroos have lost Kyl Ewart, Jack Bianchin and Nick Lynch but have gained goal kicker Mathew Pow from South Morang.
Recently-promoted Epping has landed a handful of players from Lalor, including key forward Peter Shepherd and Beau Delcus.
Meanwhile, Darcy Barden has returned to Lower Plenty as it looks to cement its place in Division 1. He will be joined by Matthew Vasilevski who comes across from West Preston-Lakeside with coach Vin Dattoli.
Continue below for all the list changes from Division 1.
BUNDOORA
Coach: Phil Plunkett (new)
Last year: 11 wins – 9 losses (fourth)
IN: Damian D’Amore (Northern Blues), Ricky Dyson (Essendon), Kristian Forte (Thomastown), Andrew Hume (Coolaroo), Aaron Lerm (Oak Park), Michael Ryan (Lower Plenty), Nathan Thomas (Lalor), Chris Varsamakis (Eltham)
OUT: Matthew Bekker (Whittlesea), Brodric Gray (Whittlesea), Paul Harrison (Whittlesea), Matthew Hyde (Greensborough), Tony Hogg (Watsonia), Glenn Ibbott (Diamond Creek)
Coach says: “You hate to say it, but injuries did hurt us a bit (last year). The boys that got out on the park did their best, which is all you can ask for, but we lacked a bit of depth. You always look to improve, which is getting some depth, but the core nucleus is pretty good.”
ELTHAM
Coach: Brett Weatherald
Last year: 7 wins – 2 draws – 9 losses (sixth)
IN: Jason Buhagiar (Deniliquin), Adrian Cowles (South Morang), Chris Duck (Lavington), Travis Hede (Kilmore), Gerard Kilkenny (Hurstbridge), Luke McNeil (Lavington), Joshua Merkel (Albury), Adam Tsapatsaris (Lower Plenty), Brok Wightman (Kilmore)
OUT: Leigh Catoggio (Hurstbridge), David Folino (Thompson), Ricky Jessop (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians), Anthony Kidd (Panton Hill), Mark Morgan (Banyule), Brendan Ryan (Doncaster East), Lee Thompson (Lower Plenty), Chris Varsamakis (Bundoora)
Coach says: “It’s been good. We learned a lot from last year. Although we had a very good start to last year we probably felt we ran out of juice a bit halfway through the year. We’ve certainly concentrated more on structures in pre-season and in the first couple of practice matches that’s worked quite well for us. It’s still a work in progress but that’s the track we’re going down."
EPPING
Coach: Mario Bandera
Last year: 19 wins – 1 loss (Division 2 premiers)
IN: Steve Camilleri (Lalor), Volkan Cihan (Lalor), Beau Delcus (Lalor), Shannon Emmerton (Mitiamo), Trent Harrington (Avondale Heights), Peter Shepherd (Lalor),
OUT: Adrian Jarvis (Hurstbridge), Dylan Maxwell (Hurstbridge)
Coach says: “(Peter Shepherd) was priority number one. The last couple of years he’s probably struggled for a bit of motivation. He’s a very loyal person who never really contemplated leaving Lalor. With their form struggling he was struggling for a bit of motivation and was looking for a new challenge."
GREENSBOROUGH
Coach: Robert Hyde (new)
Last year: 7 wins – 1 draw – 10 losses (seventh)
IN: Lachlan Edwards (Somerville), Matthew Hyde (Bundoora), Alex Karavas (Northcote Park)
OUT: Mitchell Anderson (Montmorency), Jayden Neilson (Panton Hill), Tyler Scarce (Panton Hill)
Coach says: “We’re not very tall but I’ve got a couple of good young kids who are about 20 years old and around 6”4 or so and I reckon over the next 18 to 24 months they’ll develop into good players.”
HEIDELBERG
Coach: Ryan Smith
Last year: 15 wins – 1 draw – 5 losses (runners-up)
IN: Danny Allan (Wangaratta), Jamie Allan (Wangaratta), Robbie Allan (Wangaratta), Thomas Brown (Essendon Doutta Stars), Mark Favrin (Monbulk), Joel Harris (North Fremantle), Brad Miller (Richmond), Cameron Pirret (Old Ivanhoe Grammarians), Chaz Sargeant (Lavington), Jordan Treloar (Northcote Park)
OUT: Saul Caddy (retired), Chris Cullinan (Murchison), Geremie Ganino (Murchison), Matt Seiter (Wodonga), John Shiels (Murchinson), Lloyd Toffolon (Panton Hill), Benjamin Wright (Watsonia)
President (Trevor Barrot) says: “He’s (Brad Miller) got a big tank for a big man. His experience will be invaluable and also his knowledge with things like forward structures.”
LOWER PLENTY
Coach: Vin Datoli (new)
Last year: 4 wins – 14 losses (ninth)
IN: Darcy Barden (West Perth), Chas Bromley (West Preston-Lakeside), James Quinn (Mulgrave), Lee Thompson (Eltham), Matthew Vasilevski (West Preston-Lakeside), Adam Walker (Sale), Timothy Walsh (Bacchus Warsh)
OUT: Tim Duckworth (Panton Hill), Jackson Ezard (Westmeadows), Jeremy Gercovich (Panton Hill), Damien Hanan (Watsonia), Nathan Hendry (Panton Hill), Matthew Neill (Tocumwal), Michael Ryan (Bundoora), Shannon Strickland (Doncaster East), Adam Tsapatsaris (Eltham), Stewart Ward (Hahndorf)
Coach says: “There’s no doubt that it is a good developing list. It’s a very young list which is a bonus so we will roll our sleeves up and really try to educate the whole club from a Division 1 training habit scenario. That’s what they probably need to understand is how hard they need to train to be a better and more competitive outfit in Division 1.”
MACLEOD
Coach: Garry Ramsay (new)
Last year: 6 wins – 1 draw – 11 losses (eight)
IN: Andrew Byrne (Stony Creek), Christopher Libertino (Finley), Mathew Pow (South Morang), Lincoln Withers (Waratahs)
OUT: Tyson Balasso (Heidelberg West), Kyl Ewart (Heidelberg West), Blake Gunningham (Heidelberg West), Nick Lynch (Banyule), Craig Toohey (Heidelberg West),
Coach says: “The goal is to get the best out of every player. With a good injury run and if everyone played to their potential I would see no reason why we couldn’t beaten anyone on our day. The goal will be to head into every week believing we can win.”
MONTMORENCY
Coach: Bryan Cole (new)
Last year: 15 wins – 5 losses (third)
IN: Mitchell Anderson (Greensborough), James Deacon (Eley Park), Alik Magin (Gold Coast), Mark McKenzie (Woodville West-Torrens), Rowan Nayna (Greenvale), Harley Ryan (Myrtleford) Wayne Pavitt (Myrtleford), Ryan Willits (West Adelaide)
OUT: Leigh Broad (Coburg Districts), Ben Finnin (Panton Hill), Dean Giles (Wodonga), Dean Limbach (Wodonga), Grant McCracken (Diamond Creek), Jarrod McGough (Panton Hill), Tim Moulas (Hurstbridge), Aisakie O’hAilpin (Hillside), Sammy O’Meara (Doncaster East), Scott Pepyat (Diamond Creek), Kayne Pettifer (Yarrawonga), Ben Sinclair (Balwyn), Michael Steven (Wodonga), Ambrose Swindon (Euroa), Kiel Vann (Hurstbridge), Brett Woodhouse (Hurstbridge), Shane Woodhouse (Hurstbridge)
Coach says: “We have recruited extremely well in my opinion. While starting with a very strong list we set out to recruit specific players to fill areas I felt we could do better in and to suit our game plan and structures.”
NORTHCOTE PARK
Coach: Jason Heatley
Last year: 14 wins – 1 draw – 7 losses (premiers)
IN: Kane Maghamez (Templestowe), Tim Walsh (Old Trinity Grammarians)
OUT: Daniel Buckley (Bayswater), Daniel Flynn (Tatura), Steven Hiho (Reservoir), Jake Mills (Mallee Eagles), Guneyt Ozusen (Bayswater) Daniel Rajab (Bayswater), Jordan Treloar (Heidelberg)
Coach says: “I think our list is a bit more rounded than what it was last year. We’ve also brought a ruckman, Jai Middleton, into the club as well as Ben Irving from the Northern Knights so we’ve looked in areas we need to improve and we’re comfortable knowing that we’re going to get improvement out of that.”
WEST PRESTON-LAKESIDE
Coach: Frank Raso (new)
Last year: 9 wins – 2 draws – 8 losses (fifth)
IN: Dervis Akkus (Craigieburn), Matthew Centofanti (Northcote Park), Xavier Clarke (Avondale Heights), Ryan Ewing (Fitzroy), Sam Gilmore (Greensborough), Alex Gleeson (Oak Park), Alister McLeod (Colbinabbin), Steven Shaw (Tatura), Raygan Tate (Whittlesea)
OUT: Robert Aparo (Mernda), Kris Bardon (Vermont), Daniel Bisetto (Fitzroy), Nathan Carmody (Pine Rivers), Debri Kutrolli (West Coburg), Bill Morrison (Doncaster East), Matthew Vasilevski (Lower Plenty), Jake Williams (Penleigh Essendon Grammar)
Coach says: “I think there is a lot of improvement that can come from within the team. Six players who played in the 2010 [senior] premiership were playing in the finals for the twos last year and they’re all under 26 years of age. There is a lot of talent in those reserves players on top of the best 22.”
