Lake Wendouree coach Dale Power has turned to his former club Beaufort to bolster his player stocks for the Ballarat Football League next season.
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Lakers have signed three Crows, including 2018 premiership players Josh McDermott and Lachlan Pfeifer.
Joe Mason is the third Beaufort player joining Lakers.
All three played under the guidance of Power during his three years as Crows coach from 2014.
Power said he had made a commitment on taking up the Lake Wendoure coaching job in 2018 not to approach players from his former club.
He said now that there was space since his time in the CHFL, he felt comfortable recruiting from Beaufort ranks.
Lakers have also locked in another CHFL youngster, Tim Collins from Dunnstown.
Power said while each of the players were at different points in their football careers, the common factor was their commitment and motivation to playing at the higher level.
McDermott is the most experienced of the quartet, with the move to Lake Wendouree marking a return to the BFL by the ruckman.
He is a crucial signing for Lakers, given their need to build up their depleted ruck ranks.
McDermott arrives with plenty of experience, with the Tasmanian having first lined up with North Ballarat City in 2008.
He was a premiership player with North Ballarat in 2013 before crossing to Beaufort with Joe Mason in 2015.
Power said McDermott had taken plenty time of time before committing to a move to ernsure it was right for him.
He said he had the experience and physical prowess to take up the challenge.
Power describes Mason as a "hard-nosed" inside midfielder with a good football sense.
He said Mason was also great clubman, who he had no doubt would fully buy into all aspects of club life - on and off the field.
Also a midfielder, Pfeifer has played all his football at Beaufort,
Pfeifer played his first full senior season in 2014, when he debuted under Power as a 16-year-old.
He returned from a long-term knee injury in 2018 to make his way back into a premiership side.
Another outside midfielder, Collins has played all his football at Dunnstown, where he debuted at senior level in 2017 and has been a regular even since.
The recruiting of the four CHFL players continues a pattern for Power, who has added to Lakers in his two years with the core signing of the likes of Liam and Caleb Hepworth from Creswick, and this year's best and fairest Jacob Coxall from Buninyong.
