MARK Phelps has swapped the red and black for maroon and white as the curtain falls down on a long career.
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The Buninyong veteran has had his clearance approved to Loddon Valley Football League side Newbridge, where he will play in season 2016.
Phelps’ departure will mean Buninyong’s senior side won’t feature any of the names that were part of the club’s last Central Highlands flag in 2002.
Once dubbed the most versatile player in the club’s history by Bombers life member Stan Hunter, Phelps has joined a Newbridge outfit that finished seventh in a competition of nine teams last year.
Phelps departs the Bombers after more than 250 open-age games at the club, where he was a joint best and fairest in 2001.
Buninyong joint-coach Jarrod Morgan said because Phelps was unable to properly commit to the upcoming campaign – partly because of a family holiday that is set to rule him out of the first half of the season – he decided not to play with the club this year.
Instead, Phelps intends to play some games in the region he regularly visits.
“Pretty much, it's that he doesn’t want to be a bit player,” Morgan said.
“Marty's sort of all or nothing.”
Morgan said Phelps was a great swing-man option for the side last season and admitted he would not only be a loss on-field, but also because of his leadership around the playing group.
“He’s always there to help blokes and give them feedback and be a really good mentor for them,” Morgan said.
“He’s still very emotionally attached to the club, for sure.”
Despite Phelps’ departure, there is some good news for the Bombers on the recruiting front.
The club has landed an important quartet from the Ballarat league, with one of those arriving from Redan and the other three from East Point.
Liam Rigby returns to the Bombers after leaving the club in 2010 and with him comes fellow ex-Kangaroos Jack Romeril and Jake Dunne.
He’s always there to help blokes and give them feedback and be a really good mentor for them.
- Buninyong joint-coach Jarrod Morgan
Rigby looms as a good back-up ruck option and key position player at either end of the ground, Romeril will be part of the onball brigade, while Dunne should slot into roles at centre half back or centre half forward.
“They'll be playing regular senior footy. They are all senior BFL players with a lot of experience and have been proven at that level,” Morgan said.
