BRIDPORT
Coach: Brett Laskey.
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Captain: Brad Buttler.
Ins: Ben Haywood, Ben Laskey, Robert Lade (South Launceston), Will Headlam, Hamish Lockett (Old Scotch), Shaun Moore, Gino King, Daniel Boatwright (returning).
Outs: Nathaniel Barnett, Matthew Taylor (Scottsdale), Leigh Barker, Matthew Lowe, Jonty Richardson (ODFA).
Last year: Runners up (NEFU).
Coach says: We haven’t set the bar too high, we just want to be competitive and see where that takes us.
We have a three-year plan to work to but I’ve got eight or 10 blokes that won’t be out of place in this competition.
The best three sides last year were Uni-Mowbray, Old Scotch and Lilydale and we play them all in the first three weeks.
We won the lightning premiership, we beat East Coast in the final so there are plenty of positive signs.
EAST COAST SWANS
Coach: Ned Hyland.
Captain: TBC.
Ins: Dakota Bannister (TSL), Shaun Cannon, Blake Leonard (AFL Queensland), Nick Child (South Launceston), Jack Rushton, Mitchell McCarroll, Scott Sheppard, Sam Suter (Rocherlea), Jake Sushames, Nicholas Lohrey-Lockwood (Longford), Jae Collis, Jack Taylor-Evans (SFL), Marley Phillips (WA), Bailey Elmer (Lauderdale).
Outs: Corey Burke, Corey Richards (retired).
Last year: Third (NEFU).
Coach says: Our expectations are a little unclear at the moment as it is all new to us, but we are looking to push sides to earn our spot in the association.
Everyone is pretty motivated now we’ve moved into a healthier compeition and doing their part to make sure the club goes well.
We made it to the NEFU preliminary final last year and played off in the grand final the two years before that.
EVANDALE
Coach: Anthony Axton.
Captain: Justin Hutton and Jason Bennett.
Ins: Mitchell Gillam, Jake Goodyer (Prospect), James Storay (Rocherlea), James Miller (Perth), Bradley Scott-Power, Sam Hughes, Andrew Frame (returning).
Outs: Tim Walker (Longford).
Last season: Fourth.
Coach says: We were bundled out a bit earlier than what I was hoping for last year so we certainly want to go deep into finals this year – that is where our list is at.
The unknown is knowing if you’ve added enough to your list, and one; if we’ve made up the gap and two; maintained the gap we had over the others.
We’ve added to our midfield depth, our backline was one of the best last year and that will stay the same and our forward line talent-wise looks the goods.
It’s going to be a very close competition and we could see some real upsets.
LILYDALE
Coach: Thane Bardenhagen.
Captain: Robert Blair.
Ins: Matthew Barwick, Nathan James (St Pats), Luke Smith (Hillwood), Jack Venn (Rocherlea), Louis Venn (TSL).
Outs: Rory Mansell (South Launceston), Tom Reinmuth (Longford), Joel Champ (Lilydale).
Last season: Runners-up.
Coach says: Last year we went about rebuilding the club and the list so we could have a crack at the flag for the next five years.
The next step for us this year is to get the chocolates at the end of the year and by keeping a majority of our players and adding to it, it will only make the job a lot easier. Our pressure is a barometer for us and in the two practice matches we’ve played, it has been right up there along with our run and carry.
It’s very important this year that we finish top two because of the way the top six system works, which will make games against the contenders very important.
MEANDER VALLEY
Coach: Michael Bowden.
Captain: Joel Holloway and Danny Bennett.
Ins: Simon Dingemanse, Joel Thompson, Devin Eilander, Joe Hammond, Matt Nicholson (Tamar Cats), Phillip Skinner (Evandale), Jesse Warren (OLFC), Russell Whitmore (Scottsdale), Josh Bennett (Longford).
Outs: James de Boer (ODFA) Adam Scott (Bracknell), Luke Howe (Bridgenorth).
Last season: Eighth.
Coach says: We’ve been working on our ball movement, we’ve got to make sure that when we’ve got the ball we maintain it – we don’t want to be on the end of some of the hidings we got last year.
The top five sides from last year will be hard to beat with Uni-Mowbray a bit of an unknown with their player turnover. We’ll be pushing for the sixth final sport.
OLD SCOTCH
Coach: Dan Ellis and Jake Terry.
Captain: Tom Pedley.
Ins: Stephen Blizzard (Darwin), James Lee (Hillwood), Jacob Reynolds (Perth), Matthew Humphrey, Shaun Muller (George Town), Casey Young, Dujon Fuzzard.
Outs: Josh Frankcombe (Longford), Joe Boyce (TSL), Fletcher Seymour (Hobart).
Last season: Premiers.
Coach says: We want to continue what has been achieved over the past four years (under Kim Curtis).
We have been working on building player relationships, keeping this moving forward and being the same Old Scotch that has won four consecutive flags.
A lot of rumours go around during the pre-season about who’s gone where and so on but when round 1 comes down to the crunch everything settles down.
Teams fluctuate a bit but I think the added competition of two new sides will really bolster the league. We’ve got about eight school kids coming through that look like very good senior prospects.
OLD LAUNCESTONIANS
Coach: Wayne Kirby.
Captain: TBC.
Ins: Mitchell Clarke (Darwin), Chae Evans (Goldfields), Scott Dunn, Ashley Green (NEFU), Maurice Stone, Adrian Collins (MV Suns), Michael Routledge.
Outs: Jesse Warren (MV Suns).
Last season: Ninth.
Coach says: We’ve made a lot of structural changes in the club, particularly on the playing side of things with a lot of new structures.
The atmosphere around the club is at an all-time high and we are anticipating an improved year.
The goal is to win more games than last year, which was only three, and we are confident we will be able to do that.
Chae Evans is coming back from Western Australia and is a very good pickup for us.
Evandale will be a great challenge and a good test for our boys round 1.
PERTH
Coach: Damian Rhind.
Captain: TBC.
Ins: Adrian Cirkel, Shaun Etchell, Adam Etchell (Rocherlea), Chris Collins (Victoria).
Outs: Jacob Reynolds (Old Scotch), Matthew Williams (ODFA), James Miller (Evandale).
Last season: Tenth.
Coach says: We want to take another step forward, we’ve been able to stabilise ourselves over the past couple of years with three wins for the year.
We hope to reach that mark and then push on to gain double figures in the W column and single figures in the loss column.
Having a top six for the finals is going to be very enticing for a team like us who have been down the bottom end for so long, meaning we don’t have to climb as far as in previous years.
We have added a bit of depth to our midfield.
PROSPECT
Coach: Will Stoltenberg.
Captain: Danny Hall.
Ins: Jarrod Bailey (George Town), Aaron Bird (Barwon), Robert Tubb, Mitchell Young (Evandale), Jack Woolley (TSL), Sam Arnold, Jack Deakin (Scottsdale) Aaron Hinds (Hillwood).
Outs: Kaleb Thomas (TSL), Lucas Crawford (St Pats), Luke Tepper (South Launceston), Dylan Mackrill, Jason Sherriff, Mason Keane (Hillwood), Jake Goodyer (Evandale), Daniel Sutton (Victoria).
Last season: Fifth.
Coach says: It’s going to be an interesting year with a fresh young group, the average number of senior games for the group is 17.
Hopefully they can respond well to a new game plan and we can execute on game day. We’ve been working on our defensive structures and defensive pressure in general.
Our expectations are pretty limited as we are trying to build from the ground up, it’s about getting some confidence into these kids moving forward.
We’ll let our footy do the talking.
ST PATS
Coach: Alex Russell.
Captain: Tom Hilder.
Ins: Tom Armstrong (OLFC), Harry Chapman, Patrick Lawrence, Jono Lawrence, Philip Hazelwood, Jacob Perkins (South Launceston), Lucas Crawford (Prospect), Jake Kilby, Brady McIntyre (Bridgenorth), Josh Bellchambers, Kyran McMahon (TSL), Jacob Murphy, Joseph Taylor (Rocherlea).
Outs: Nathan James, Matt Barwick (Lilydale), Ted Davis (retired).
Last season: Fifth
Coach says: We’ve had quite a high player turnover and our aim is to finish top three to give ourselves the best chance of going well in finals and improving on last year’s result.
We’ll have better players right across the ground this year and we won’t be so reliant on too few.
The top six teams will be pretty even and will win and lose against each other throughout the year, which will be a nice change instead of just having two really good teams.
We will play a quick game style that suits our new running team, we are a lot younger and quicker than we have been in previous years.
TAMAR CATS
Coach: Brennan Cresswell.
Captain: TBC.
Ins: Josh Allen, Corey Watt, Daniel Burgess, Nathan Croft (Bridgenorth), Brennan Cresswell, Christian Murfet (NEFU), Josh Murray, Jarrod Murray (Deloraine).
Outs: Darren Bosveld, Matt Nicholson, Simon Dingemanse, Joel Thompson, Devin Eilander, Joe Hammond (Meander Valley Suns), John Broomby (Bridgenorth).
Last season: Seventh
Coach says: We’ve been putting time into our youth and I’m pretty optimistic with the guys we’ve got down here we can have a pretty good season.
I don’t want it to sound like a cop out as a first year coach but I don’t think our season will be defined by wins and losses.
It will be more about our game style and seeing improvement in the list – if we can get that taken care of, wins and losses will take care of themselves.
We are going to be young, fit and pretty quick so hopefully we can play an exciting brand of football.
We’ve picked up about eight different senior players from last year.
UNI-MOWBRAY
Coach: Anthony Viney.
Captain: Tom Hartley.
Ins: Majak Miar (TSL), Adam Humzy (returning), Jethro Hurle, Mitch Sanders (interstate).
Outs: David Abraham (Bracknell), Hayden Fox (South Launceston), Jarrod Frankcombe, Damon Howe, Brendan Klok, Julian Klok (Hillwood), Glenn Dawson (Bracknell), Shannon Mulvey (Deloraine), Rhys Lovering (interstate).
Last season: Third.
Coach says: I’m looking forward to the challenge of putting my two cents forward and having control of the team.
Hopefully in my first year as coach we can make finals, we’ve had a lot of changes in our group and we have recruited a couple of players to fill some gaps we have.
We will be a lot different side to last year… and our game plan needed changing with our two key forwards missing.
It is an exciting time for the club with some new faces around.
LADDER PREDICTION
- Old Scotch
- Lilydale
- Evandale
- St Pats
- East Coast
- Bridport
- Meander Valley
- Uni-Mowbray
- Old Launcestonians
- Perth
- Tamar Cats
- Prospect
OPENING ROUND
SATURDAY, APRIL 1
- Meander Valley v Prospect
- Lilydale v Old Scotch
- Evandale v OLFC
- St Pats v EC Swans
- Uni-Mowbray v Bridport