Sunbury welcomes back big man but could lose homegrown gun for 2021 Ballarat Football Netball League season

David Kovacevic will once again pull on the blue and white, having left the Lions in 2018.

The mobile big man returns after two seasons with St Albans in Western Region Football League Division 1, where he won the league best-and-fairest in 2019.

Kovacevic, who was named in the BFNL team of the year three times, recently moved to New South Wales but has committed to playing for the Lions when available.

Joining the 200cm ruck in moving north is Sunbury's classy midfielder Mitch Conn, who's followed his partner who had to relocate for a job.

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Conn will be cleared to play for the UNSW-Eastern Suburbs Bulldogs and will juggle his time between his new club and the Lions.

The former VFL player will face a tough decision on June 30 when clearances close, and he will no longer be able to switch between the two clubs.

Sunbury coach Travis Hodgson said the club had made an exception to its recruitment policy to land the two stars.

"We're not generally a club that would just go and get random players and fly them in, but Conn has played his whole life here, and Kovacevic spent six or seven years at Sunbury," he said.

"They're really good Sunbury people, so we'd certainly be prepared to accommodate them for as long as we can.

Conn started his football in Sunbury's junior ranks before progressing to the Calder Cannons and later Coburg.

He returned to the Lions full-time in 2019 and finished second in the club's best-and-fairest.

With a potential expiration date hovering over Conn's time with Sunbury, Hodgson understood the onballer was in a unique position.

"He'll play pretty a mix of Sunbury and Sydney up until June 30, and then he'll have to make a decision," he said.

"He wants to play at Sunbury, obviously. But he might do it for a month and just find it too difficult.

"We'll respect it if he wants to stay in Sydney and play there the back end of the year. We'll just have to wear it."

Kovacevic proved a dominant force in the middle of the park during his time with Sunbury and only missed the Lions' 2016 grand final through an untimely finger injury.

Hodgson expected his recruit to play for at least half the season, bringing experience to a developing midfield group.

"He's extremely fit for a big man and he gets around the ground really well," he said.

"He'll provide leadership. He'll provide strength around the footy and unlike some ruckmen who compete in the ruck and that's it until the next ball-up he'll be fairly influential around the ground."

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