FORMER BEACONSFIELD and CORA LYNN star Ben Collins will take on the senior coaching role at Yarra Valley Mountain District league Division 2 club BELGRAVE in 2012. The pacy utility, who was an assistant coach at MOE under former AFL Kangaroo Troy Makepeace this season, joins a long list of players to depart the Lions’ den. Others to have announced their intention to leave include experienced tall Adam Kennedy, former GIPPSLAND POWER defender Ash Payne, interleague representative Daniel Risol and star ruckman Chris Hancock, the latter who was denied the GFL best-and-fairest the Trood Award-Rodda Medal three seasons back due to a controversial one-week suspension. All four have been lured down the road to NEWBOROUGH. Goal sneak Richard Horton has also moved to the Mid-Gippsland league and will play with HILL END next season.
TO add to MOE’s woes, former GIPPSLAND POWER best and fairest and ex-WARRAGUL and ELLINBANK star Tommy Johnson has undergone a knee operation that will see him miss the entire season and another ex-POWER player, consistent half back Liam Carolan will miss most of the season due to an overseas venture.
On the plus side, star BEACONSFIELD recruits full forward Ryan Donaldson, who kicked 68 goals, and full back Kane Airdrie, who was named in the GFL team of the year, are expected at the revamped Ted Summerton reserve.
OF relevance to all rival teams and country clubs, MOE last week approached the VCFL with both a cause for concern and a proposal to inject more long-term competitiveness into the Gippsland League competition. The Lions want the introduction of a roster system where ‘district’ clubs can provide players for their thirds team. It suggests the idea would benefit the clubs involved as the ‘district’ club players would have the opportunity to play in a higher competition. MOE’s idea stems from, and is in its own best interests due to, the fact it did not field an under-18 team this year. The Lions reinforced to the VCFL that a strong junior structure is an absolute must for prolonged senior success. It stated that without it, many clubs, including their own would face the possibility of folding in a few years time, which would be to the detriment of the league and football. The Lions gathered a host of statistics to support their case; the most revealing being that in the last 15 years only four GFL teams, SALE, TRARALGON, LEONGATHA and MAFFRA have won under-18 premierships and this quartet happen to be the only clubs to have won senior flags over the same time span.
REIGNING EDFL best-and-fairest and ruck star Ben Dwyer has been re-appointed senior coach at LANG LANG. He will again be supported by now veteran utility Dan O’Hara. Former CORA LYNN ruckman Craig Parke has been appointed reserves coach. The Tigers expect to retain the majority of their list and are quietly confident they will lure a few handy recruits to the Western Port club in the upcoming weeks.
DETERMINED midfielder Damian Kerr has been re-appointed as senior coach at MORWELL. It was only fair that Kerr was reinstalled at the helm because in his first season this year his team suffered a terrible run of injuries to key players. The Tigers are on the lookout for a playing assistant coach to replace former AFL Tiger Royce Vardy, who has moved back to the Geelong region for family and business reasons. Unfortunately for the Tigers their injury woes have not eased completely as key defender Julian Blackford has recently undergone his second knee reconstruction in three seasons and will miss the entire season, but on a positive note captain Michael ‘Funky’ Duncan, who also underwent a knee reconstruction earlier this year, is on target for the opening round. Plucky rover Jake-Roe Duggan, who had a break-out season this year, has moved to Queensland and is expected to line up with SOUTHPORT in the NEAFL Northern conference next year. The Tigers have a number of promising young Mid-Gippsland league players attending their training at the moment, perhaps one of the most impressive on the track being MORWELL EAST wingman Brandon Francis.
ALL the coaching positions in the Ellinbank District Football League have now been filled. Next year there will be six new faces in charge, these being Leigh Horsburgh at BULN BULN, Ben Scanlon at CATANI, Matt Shorey at KOOWEERUP, Cory Wilson at NYORA, Matt Grant at POOWONG and Lloyd Burgmann at NILMA DARNUM, who will be the only non-playing coach in the competition. The other nine clubs have re-appointed this season’s mentor.
