HEPBURN has landed the sons of a former premiership defender for the 2015 Central Highlands Football League season.
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Ricky and Jason Ferraro have signed with the Burras, following in the footsteps of father Greg, who played in three premierships with the club during the 1980s.
The pair arrive from Peninsula league side Bonbeach.
Ricky is a former Collingwood, Sandringham and Casey Scorpions VFL player, who captained the Dandenong Stingrays to the 2008 TAC Cup grand final and finished sixth in the Morrish Medal of that year.
He is a tough midfielder that is expected to slot into the Hepburn engine
room.
His brother Jason doesn’t arrive with the same high-level footballing background, but did play with the Stingrays at under-18 level. He is expected to be used as a utility with his new club.
Hepburn president Jason Dooley said the boys used to watch their father player in Hepburn colours and were always keen to one day join the club.
“All the planets aligned, I suppose. They were keen to have a chat, they came up and loved the place and the rest is history,” Dooley said.
“It’s something they always wanted to do was come up and play footy, but it had to be when they could come up and do it together.
“They’re keen not just to come up for a year and play a season, (but) hopefully keen to see how it works out and hopefully continue their involvement well into the future.”
Dooley said trying to recruit people that had a connection to the club was something he was trying to focus on during his tenure as
president.
Bonbeach president Reece Murphy said the Ferraro boys’ departure from his club was disappointing, but said they were great people who would bolster the Burras.
“(Rick) will offer a good, tough onballer, (with) foot skills. (He is) an in-and-under player, that can kick a goal as well,” Murphy said.
“Jason is a good, tough, reliable defender that rarely gets beaten.”
Hepburn is preparing for its third season under coach Clive Raak, who took the team to a premiership in his first year at the helm in 2013 before being sent packing in straight-sets from the 2014 finals series by Gordon and Springbank.
tim.oconnor@fairfaxmedia.com.au