North Ballarat City will have to wait until at least mid-season before seeing marquee recruit Marcus Darmody in action in the Ballarat Football League.
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Darmody is recovering from hamstring surgery.
North coach Shane Skontra said it was a disappointing outcome after luring him back to club, where he was a 2014 premiership player.
Darmody spent the past two years with Koroit, playing in two Hampden league premierships as one of the competition’s leading goalkickers.
He was set to be part of a formidable attacking combination with Will Young.
North Ballarat begins its season against an unknown quantity in Sebastopol at Marty Busch Reserve on Saturday night.
Sebastopol undertook the BFL’s most aggressive off-season recruiting campaign, pouncing on five players from disbanded VFL side North Ballarat Roosters – Tony Lockyer, Matt Austin, James Keeble, Lachie Cassidy and Nick Hausler.
Lockyer already had close ties with the Burra, having been with the club as a junior, and helped convinced his Roosters teammates to take up the challenge of trying to get Sebastopol off the bottom of the ladder.
All five will line up against City, as will Brett Goodes, who was named in the side on Thursday night after some concerns about a calf injury.
With the demise of the Roosters and VFL’s reserves competition, the AFL Vic development league, the BFL has been inundated with former VFL-listed players this year in a boon for clubs.
