SEVEN North Ballarat Roosters players have signed new two-year deals with the VFL club.
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Head coach Marc Greig said it was a great start to consolidating the core of the player list for the medium term.
He announced last month that the Selkirk Roosters were aiming to have more than 20 existing players on two-year contracts by the end of the season.
Greig said as well as adding solidarity to North Ballarat in a transition period from being part-aligned with AFL club North Melbourne to standalone, which it was this season for the first time in a decade, the signings provided the players with stability in football development.
Leadership group members Luke Kiel, James Keeble and Tony Lockyer, Ollie Tate, Keegan Mellington, Tom Taurau and Ben Simpson make up the first group to come to terms for the two-year deals.
Greig said the Roosters expected more players to re-sign next week.
Meanwhile, veteran ruckman Orren Stephenson will become eligible for VFL life membership when he plays his 175th senior game in the competition against Collingwood at Eureka Stadium in Ballarat on Sunday.
Stephenson has played the bulk of these games with North Ballarat, including the 2008, 2009 and 2010 premierships.
He also had a VFL presence while of the AFL lists of Geelong in 2012 and Richmond in 2013 and 2014.
Stephenson is only the third Roosters player to achieve this milestone, joining Shaune Moloney and Marc Greig.
Greig expects a high pressure match against the fourth-placed Collingwood.
Tyson Goldsack, Marley Williams and Tom Phillips are inclusions after being dropped from the AFL team, but the Magpies have lost the promoted Brent Macaffer for what is expected to be a match played in wet conditions.
