Welcome to the 2021 Central Highlands Football League season and part one of The Courier's preview of the year ahead.
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Here, we take a close look at every side ahead of one of the most anticipated local football seasons in memory.
Part one will feature the finals teams from 2019, with the microscope to be placed on the remaining sides in the coming days.
After you've learned how your club is faring, we'd love to know what you think. Fill in the anonymous survey at the bottom to pick your flag favourite.
BUNINYONG
Coach: Shaun O'Loughlin
Captain: Jack Robertson
2019 season:
1st, 14-2 record (lost semi-final)
Best & Fairest: Jarrod Rodgers
Leading goalkicker: Derick Micallef (52 goals)
Coming in:
Tyrone Ross (Hamilton Kangaroos)
Jesse Marshall (Ballarat)
Dom Sliwa (South Barwon)
Geoff Lovett (Sebastopol)
Aidan McDougall (Lake Wendouree)
Matthew Gibbs (Bears Lagoon Serpentine)
Kobi Cheeseman (Gordon)
Tom Conlon (returning)
Josh Sargent (Lexton)
Out the door:
Sam Russell (Western Australia)
Tim Brayshaw (Western Australia)
Ned Gilbert (retired)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "I think we're just pretty even across the board. We've been able to recruit some quality people but also some quality players. We're very lucky that we've retained really well over the last couple of years and to be able to retain the core of our list and then bring in some other quality players was what we were trying to do. We think that we're just a pretty even group, so I think that's something that we're looking forward to is that we won't be reliant on any one player, we've got a good evenness and a good spread across our group. That should hopefully stand us in pretty good stead."
Biggest improvements: "I think the big thing that you'll see with the way that we play is just the quality of our ball movement will improve. That'll come a fair bit from the quality of players that we've also recruited. They generally run really well and kick the ball really well, so I think our ball movement will have improved a lot since the last time we played, so that'll be the area that we're hoping that our supporters will enjoy watching."
Players to be excited about: "We're really excited about what Jack Robertson and what we think he'll do this year. He'll be our captain, so we've had a change of captaincy from Ned Gilbert and Alex Bomitali. He's had a tremendous pre-season, he's got himself really fit and we're excited to see that changing of the guard I guess with our leadership. He's been taking a lot of training and certainly blossomed in that regard as well, so we think that he's really setting himself for a really good season. We think Caius Barrenger is the same, he's had a really good pre-season too. At both ends of the ground to have such quality talls is going to be really important for us, we think that both of those two boys have prepared really well and certainly have missed not being able to play last year so looking forward to seeing what they might do."
NEWLYN
Coach: Chris Banwell
Captain: Undecided
2019 season:
2nd, 14-2 record (lost preliminary final)
Best & Fairest: Marcus Darmody
Leading goalkicker: Marcus Darmody (111 goals)
Coming in:
Tom Carey (East Malvern)
Liam Gunn (East Point)
Sean Wilmott (Lake Wendouree)
Connor Long (Geelong Districts)
Dave Gilbert (Werribee)
Out the door:
Boe Bish (Wycheproof)
Lou Campana (retired)
Luke Faull (retired)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "They're very proud at the moment the playing list of their back six, they're a very cohesive unit as well through the midfield. Obviously the midfield being able to supply the forward line including Darmo (Marcus Darmody) was a real positive but probably not really spoken about the back six and the job that they did. That's something that I'm looking to work with the playing group and make sure that we try to get the back six and the midfield group back to the point that they were at at the end of 2019."
Biggest improvements: "Probably a few more avenues to goal. Probably not that much of a secret that Darmo's obviously kicked a lot of goals in 2018 and cracked the ton in 2019, so just letting the playing list know that there's an opportunity for boys to go down and kick a few goals when they do get the opportunity. Any of those juniors that are on the way through, any guys that are sort of playing out of position at the moment just letting them know that there are positions up forward where we will need to be giving Darmo a chop-out, because he might have a couple of guys on him each week."
Players to be excited about: "Everybody knows about the older players within the footy side, so Darmo, Myles and Adam Sewell, Dan Wehrung, Matt Cosgrave's playing his 350th game this year, so hopefully we'll see him floating around the back pocket. A lot of juniors coming through from a couple of years ago so Devon Orr, he's a midfielder who can swap through the half-back flank. Very similar with Marcus Tilley, he's another junior who's been playing really well off the half-back flank who might move through the wing as well. Seamus Murphy-Mckay as well who's a very whippy wingman, so they're a few guys that weren't included in the recruits or the re-signings. So they're some juniors essentially that had a little bit of senior experience and they've obviously developed over the last 18 months."
GORDON
Coach: Adam Toohey and Ron Watt
Captain: Mark Gunnell
2019 season:
3rd, 13-3 record (lost preliminary final)
Best & Fairest: Ethan Crackel
Leading goalkicker: Brendan Sutcliffe (72 goals)
Coming in:
Shannon Byrnes (former Geelong Cats and Melbourne Demons player)
Trevor Johnson (Queensland)
Reece Williams (Tyrendarra)
Matt Uebergang (Warndo-Mortlake)
Ashley Munari (Carisbrook)
Dylan Watt (North Shore)
Andy Siekai (Daylesford)
Out the door:
Taylem Wason (Warrnambool)
Zac Catlin (Woorinen)
Jack Toohey (Darwin)
Caleb Myers (Melbourne)
Brendan Sutcliffe (work commitments)
Bailey Colligan (Waubra)
Kobi Cheeseman (Buninyong)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "Hopefully that's the brand of footy we can play, we're in at the contest, we're hard and physical, we've got our back six that is solid as a rock. Then hopefully with a few versatile forwards up there we can be kicking really good, high scores."
Biggest improvements: "Probably the depth is the biggest thing. The other thing is going to be that polish on the outside. Obviously having Shannon Byrnes is going to be a huge get and then just another year into a Zack Ryan who did his ACL in 2019 and he was just starting to play some really good footy on-ball. Jordan Clampit, another midfielder, he's 25, 26 and I think he can take his game to the next level. Ethan Crackel who's our defending best and fairest winner he's only 25 or 26 so I think they're going to improve internally as much as the polish and depth we've got coming through."
Players to be excited about: "Obviously Zack and Jordan are two that I expect to have really big years. In the younger brigade a couple of the boys coming up, Connor Ascough got best on ground in the under-18 grand final and he's primed and ready for senior footy. Macauley Griffiths is a taller key forward, he's going to be very important for us and our structure. Ben Fraser, probably the best kick at the club, sort of playing flanks and wings, so they're going to be three younger boys that I think are going to have really, really good seasons."
WAUBRA
Coach: Matt James
Captain: Austin Murphy
2019 season:
4th, 13-3 record (Premiers)
Best & Fairest: James Lukich
Leading goalkicker: Austin Murphy (51 goals)
Coming in:
Monty Judd (Redan)
Will Green (Ballarat)
Lachlan Rinaldi (Ballarat)
Nick Sullivan (Beaufort)
Bailey Colligan (Gordon)
Out the door:
James Lukich (East Point)
Dean Robertson (Darwin)
Andrew Wettenhall (Hamilton)
Ryan Head (retired)
Jarred Crabtree (Horsham)
James Petrie (Western Australia)
Josh Crawford (Ballarat)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "Probably similar strengths (to 2019) just with our speed and running capacity. I think obviously we've lost James Lukich's of the world, Dean Robertson, Wettenhall and Head so the reliance on those key players for our team is probably not going to be there anymore so we're probably looking for more of a team effort through the 22 rather than a reliance on one or two players to get us over the line."
Biggest improvements: "From where we stand 2019 was obviously outstanding to be able to win a premiership, but to take 10 players out of a football team and bring a new 10 guys in and particularly with the 10 we've bought in being so young, it's chalk and cheese a little bit to compare. The improvement for us will be just confidence in young guys learning to play senior footy. Even throughout our practice matches with so many young boys in the team they're learning to transition from playing a junior style of football to playing seniors and getting up and down the ground a little bit more. The key learnings for us will just be improving through our youth and relying on a bit of those experienced players to help bring them along a bit."
CAN WAUBRA GO BACK-TO-BACK? HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY.
Players to be excited about: "I think Jackson Kinna, he'd be about 23 now, he had a really good finals campaign in 2019 and has spent the last 18 months becoming super fit, so he'll be an exciting player to watch. Geordie Lukich in the ruck, I think he's one of the premier ruckmen in the competition and if he gets a good run at it with injury I think he'll return to that premier ruck position that he had in 2018. Reggie Palmer has come to the club, played with us in our under-18s in our COVID-19 season last year. He's been really, really exciting at training because he's really young, I think he's still 16 at the moment but he's every chance to get a game in our seniors throughout the year at different stages. They're probably two or three that I'm really looking forward to seeing."
HEPBURN
Coach: Jason Olver & Shane Robertson
Captain: Undecided
2019 season:
5th, 12-4 record (runners-up)
Best & Fairest: Sam Dunstan
Leading goalkicker: Sam Dunstan (108 goals)
Coming in:
Shane Black (Trentham)
Ricky Shortis (Bacchus Marsh)
Sean Hogan (Newtown and Chillwell)
Shylo Smith (Doutta Stars)
Out the door:
Tommy Horne (Maldon)
Jack Fowler (Maldon)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "Our midfield runs pretty deep. Ricky Ferraro has come back to the club, Shylo Smith is a very, very good midfielder as well. We've got a bloke by the name of Sam Dunstan who kicked 100 goals in 2019 and he's only 23. Our forward line is very mobile. We'd like to think going forward with our goal kicking ability we should be able to do some damage to some sides."
Biggest improvements: "I think the improvement that we've seen is our younger group, we were worried that maybe with the year off these young fellas may step back a little bit because they haven't had that extra year of learning the craft. They've come back and they've really surprised us so that age group of 19 to 21, 22 in the last two practice matches and the pre-season training they've really blossomed. I think that's where the improvement will really come from and they'll push the standards of the older fellas and obviously there's going to be a lot of competition for spots in the side. That's where the improvement will come from, the older blokes, Hepburn generally does, we're always going deep into the finals, the older fellas that have been around and won X amount of premierships they just keep pushing themselves anyway. These younger fellas are wanting to be part of that premiership side if they can get a medal around their neck so they're really striving to get one."
Players to be excited about: "I coached a lot of them in junior football as well so I've seen them come right through the system. Jordan Grant for example he snapped his leg in half two-and-a-half years ago, so he missed all of 2019, so he would've been back last year, I don't know if he would've been ready for it with his leg but he's been up and going all pre-season and he looks like he's going to be back on track which is fantastic. Then you've got Bryce Coffey and your Hayden Rodgers, all those sort of kids that have won league medals coming through the system at the junior level, Ned Johns, they're ready to step up and actually go to that next level of football I'd imagine. There's a fair few of them which is really good to see."
BEAUFORT
Coach: Brendan Howard and Mitchell Jenkins
Captain: Tim Haase
2019 season:
6th, 12-4 record (lost semi-final)
Best & Fairest: Michael Foster
Leading goalkicker: Lachlan Murray
Coming in:
Shaun Christopher (North Bendigo)
Nathan Hucker (Uni Blues)
Tyler Mason (SMW Rovers)
Zach Leckie (North Ballarat)
Richie Zelencich (Lake Bolac)
Shannon Brown (Avoca)
James Vanderkley (North Geelong)
Bailey Batchelor (Kalkee)
Out the door:
Rupert Sangster (Southern Malley Giants)
Nick Sullivan (Waubra)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "Probably the backline would be our strongest line, it's probably the most experienced line with a couple of key pick-ups and a couple of old heads still rolling back there with me and Jenks. We've got a whole new look midfield and forward line, couple of key recruits up forward which should be really good with a big anchor forward that we've never really had before. We're really looking forward to that," Howard said.
Biggest improvements: "It's probably having some key forwards within our team. I think we've probably gone with a more small, medium sized forward line previously, but just with a few guys that we've picked up we've added some genuine size which is great for us," Jenkins said.
Players to be excited about: "Richie Zelencich who's come across and Jimmy Vanderklay from a backline perspective. Probably a couple of the key forwards, Shaun Christopher who's come over he's the big anchor forward. Tim Haase is effectively a recruit for us because last time he played was the grand final (in 2018), so I'm really looking forward to their connection. Nathan Hucker's another key forward that we picked up, so there's a few up there that we're really looking forward to seeing, see how it goes," Howard said.
SPRINGBANK
Coach: Joe Otto
Captain: Undecided
2019 season:
7th, 11-5 record (lost elimination final)
Best & Fairest: Todd Finco
Leading goalkicker: William Driscoll (33 goals)
Coming in:
Andrew Challis (Corio)
Steve Staunton (Terang-Mortlake)
Zac Bozanich (overseas)
Out the door:
Jonathan O'Brien (North Ballarat)
Peter Lewis (Deniliquin)
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "I think hopefully pretty even across the board. I think going back to 2019 we were a decent team we just weren't quite there. The games we lost, I think we only lost six or so games for the season, we were always kind of losing by that couple of goals. When we did lose it wasn't by much so I suppose this year we need to capitalise and win those ones and I think what we've added in with the forwards is probably going to help us there. We probably struggled to kick big scores, we'd be able to defend not too bad with good tough mids and decent backs, we probably fell down being able to hit the scoreboard where we needed to be, maybe that's why we lost some close ones. I think evenness across the board and hopefully a couple of forwards that we've recruited will help us hit the scoreboard a bit harder."
Biggest improvements: "I'd like to hope (scoring would be). In the final we lost to Beaufort it was by kind of that three goals maybe. That's where we fell down again just going inside our forward 50 on the back of missed targets and it just got taken out of there a bit easy on us, puts everyone else under pressure, your mids and your backs. I think hopefully with some taller forwards and some focal points and that will just allow other people to play their roles better too down there."
THINK SPRINGBANK CAN GO THE DISTANCE? HAVE YOUR SAY AT THE BOTTOM OF THIS STORY
Players to be excited about: "We've got a lot of good players out there I suppose, I enjoy watching a lot of them to be honest. I suppose it's the new ones, the most exciting stuff is the ones you haven't really seen. Steve Staunton who's come from Terang-Mortlake is going to be a good target down forward for us as is Zac Bozanich. He's going to come down and play full-forward for us and again just another good target which will be really good. Then some of our mids are exciting, we picked up a new one in Andrew Challis, he's going to be a really good player I think in the competition. Then just all the other guys out there, I got to know how they played and enjoyed watching."
SKIPTON
Coach: Sam Willian and Andrew Pitson
Captain: Josh Draffin
2019 season:
8th, 8-8 record (lost elimination final)
Best & Fairest: Andrew Pitson
Leading goalkicker: Curtis Townrow (34 goals)
Coming in:
Mitch Gilbert (North Ballarat)
Nathan Olver (North Ballarat)
Liam Cullinan (North Ballarat)
Daniel Kilpatrick (North Ballarat)
Rhys Monument (East Point)
Jethro Kirby (East Point)
Jack Romeril (Buninyong)
Brad Ryan (Ballarat)
Nick Szabatura (South Barwon)
Out the door:
Adam Romey (Tallangatta)
Brayden Draffin (Camperdown)
Mitch Bruns (retired)
Luke Bell
Lachie Johns
Kal Dubbeldan
Cooper Henson
From the coach's mouth:
Team strengths: "Probably ball movement. We're a pretty small side, we don't have many key position players, we've got some key backs but a pretty small and nimble forward line. I think the way we move the footy, we're trying to play an aggressive game style, so probably our ball movement."
Biggest improvements: "Probably added midfield depth and added depth over the board. I know we lost 25 players but we've recruited pretty well. We've probably got a list of 30 to 32 blokes who can all jump in and play senior footy, so probably just the depth. Especially the midfield depth, we've got a long list of blokes that can run through that middle of the ground."
Players to be excited about: "The Stranks boys, Lakota and Cree, two young fellas. Over the first two practice matches they've been respectively best on in either game. Pretty keen to see Mitch Gilbert run around out there, I think he's a fair player. Probably the co-coach as well, Andrew Pitson, I've played against him but never actually played with him so pretty keen to see what he's got to offer, he's been pretty good in both the practice matches so he'll be great to watch."
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