Sebastopol has been delivered an unexpected blow with the departure of one its ruckmen.
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James Richards is moving to East Warrnambool in the Warrnambool District Football League.
Sebastopol football manager Shawne Dummett said the move had “come out of the blue”.
He said Richards was making the shift owing to family reasons.
Dummett said Richards would be a substantial loss, given his experience, size and strength.
His departure is likely to see the bulk of the ruck workload going to Nick Hausler, who is going into his second season with the Burra.
Originally from Horsham, Richards signed with Sebastopol in 2015 after two seasons on the North Ballarat Rebels list.
He missed all but one game in 2017 with injury, but returned this year to play 12 games.
While Richards leaves, Sebastopol has signed 1.93m Tim Rhook from Marong in the Loddon Valley league.
Dummett said Rhook had agreed to sign on after being impressed with what he saw in a few Sebastopol games he attended last season.
Rhook is originally from Boort in the North Central league – the same club which James Keeble grew up with playing with and a link pivotal to attracting Rhook to Marty Busch Reserve.
He last played at Boort in 2017 and made 14 apperarances with Marong this year.
Dummett said Burra was looking to make the most of Rhook’s size in a key position.
GRAND finalist Melton is standing firm in its focus on bringing on youth with the signing of leading lights from its under-18.5 ranks.
Chris Jones is latest announced by the Bloods. He was their 2017 under-18.5 best and fairest, but is yet to make his senior debut.
Jones follows in the footsteps of Josh Parsons and this year’s under-18.5 best and fairest Jai Whitehand, who made his senior debut last season.
Luke Heaney, who was eligible for under-18.5s this year, has also recommitted after playing every senior game.
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