There was plenty of player movement during the Northern Tasmanian Football Association division one pre-season which makes it an enticing season to get stuck into.
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EAST COAST
Coach: Ned Hyland
Captain: To be announced
Last year: Third
Ins: Corey Bosworth, Pearce Robinson, Mitchell McCarroll (returning), Michael Murfet (Old Scotch), Sam Maddern, Kaiden Cox-Goodyer (Rocherlea), Robbie McManus (Lauderdale), Chris Novy (Cairns Saints), James Appleford (Rye), Connah Tuck (Lilydale), Tarkyn Webb (Longford)
Outs: Adam Marland, Beau Calow (Evandale), Ethan Goldfinch, Cameron Upton, Aaron Seen, Chae Evans, Jye Baldwin, Nathan Worker
COACH SAYS: "We've got a young list, we're putting work into growing our East Coast identity and developing our young players. I think the league's in a pretty healthy position. My prediction is the top five staying the same and the gaps between the teams probably getting closer together."
EVANDALE
Coach: James Conroy
Co-captains: Jackson Davey and Tyler Brown
Last year: Ninth
Ins: Caleb Bushing, Jak Hadley (South Launceston), Adam Marland, Beau Calow (East Coast), Shaun Collis (returning), Walter Jones (Longford), Taj Mountney (North Launceston juniors), Blake Watt (Lilydale), Bailey Ross (Bracknell)
Outs: Keiran Carlton (retiring), Kade Gunton (Old Launcestonians), Lachie Groves (Campbell Town)
COACH SAYS: "We'll be looking to learn a system that suits us best and and we've worked on our fitness levels pretty hard too. As long as there's improvements in each quarter and each game, then we should be having more favorable results and hopefully work our way up the ladder."
LILYDALE
Coach: Colin Lockhart
Captain: Corey Lockett
Last year: Premiers
Ins: Corey Cochrane (Rocherlea), Ty Ponting, Jai Asbury, Ty Dingjan, Shaun Avent, Josh Hawes, Brighton Denman, Lewis Sheppard, Kurtis Tuck (all up from reserves)
Outs: Sam Cooke, Zac Cooke, Matthew McKinnon, Nick McKinnon (George Town)
COACH SAYS: "We're going for three in a row. Like for everyone, with COVID and all that, it's going to be a funny year to start with. We'll aim for top three because top three will give you the double chance come finals and we do everything around being there at the pointy end - you don't get premierships in April."
MEANDER VALLEY
Coach: Brennan Savage
Captain: Kane Brugeaud
Last year: Seventh
Ins: Thomas Groves, Brai Maynard (Deloraine juniors), Matt Dornauf (Essendon VFL/Whittlesea), Nick Davis (UTAS), Hamish Preece, Jack Deane, Jesse Debruyn, Jurian Dingamanse
Outs: Angus Scott (Old Scotch), Callum Harrison, Brodie Vocke (St Pats)
COACH SAYS: Savage is encouraging an attacking brand. "It centres around, really attacking football and risk-taking and whatnot. With a young group that can be sometimes detrimental. But I certainly would rather do it that way than play safe and it's a great way for our young group to learn."
OLD LAUNCESTONIANS
Coach: Kane Sanders
Captain: Campbell Fraser
Last year: Runner-up
Ins: Drew McGrath, Xavier Seller (from Victoria), Ryan Kuser (from Western Australia), Kade Gunton (Evandale), Sam Hughes (returning), Ty Claxton (Maroochydore)
Outs:
COACH SAYS: "I want to build on the foundation our last coaches put down for the club and build on the culture they've already got there, which is really good. And to go that one next step from being an almost premiership team to a premiership club."
OLD SCOTCH
Coach: Brayley Coombes
Captain: Jonty Swallow
Last year: Fourth
Ins: Connor Bryant (Kingsborough), Jasper Krushka (Scottsdale), Nic Miller (Bracknell), Clay Ritchie (Hobart Uni), Angus Scott (Meander Valley), Jacob Martin Outs: Brinley Duggan (moved to South Australia), Will Harper (North Launceston), Brody Earley (George Town)
COACH SAYS: Coombes is excited to face both 2021 grand finalists in round one and two this season. "We obviously had a fairly strong home-and-away season last year and bowed out in straight sets, which was really disappointing in the finals. Our aim is to obviously play finals and take that next step and win not just one, but hopefully several finals."
Perth
Coach: Danny Bennett
Captain: Nathan Croft
Last year: Eighth
Ins: Josh Harris (South Launceston), Zak Kerrison (Scottsdale), Liam Kiely (Rocherlea), Ed Kiely (Old Launcestonians), Prashant Reddy, Toby Henri (North Launceston), Drew McIntosh (Rocherlea), Lukas Souter, Jesse Rhodes, Ali Jammas (returning),
Outs: Jake Carins (St Pats), Blair McGillvery, Kaleb McGillvery (Campbell Town), Corey Rhodes (Natone)
COACH SAYS: Bennett feels Perth has added handy recruits who will contribute to the club's great culture. "We've got a very young side and we've continued to build on that. We've added a few experienced boys this year as well. Definitely finals is a pass mark for us this season."
ST PATS
Co-coaches: Jake Lowe and Alex Russell
Captain: Tom Hilder
Last year: Fifth
Ins: Jake Laskey, Jacob Perkins (South Launceston), Jake Carins (Perth), Callum Russell (Bridgenorth), Callum Harrison, Brodie Vocke (Meander Valley) Julian James (Sydney Uni), Brad Dikkenberg (returning), Ronan Filgate (Launceston)
Outs: Luke Tepper, Dylan Morgan (South Launceston)
COACH SAYS: "Going out fifth (2021) we weren't quite happy with it all. We thought we probably could have gone a bit further. When we recruited we tried to recruit what we needed instead of every player available. We had a bit of purpose with the blokes we wanted to get and add to our midfield and forward depth. Our aim is finish top three."
UTAS
Coach: David Manktelow
Captain: Will Geysing
Last year: 10th
Ins: Tim Reynolds (Hobart Uni), Dan McHugh (from Brisbane), Brodie Arthur, Ben Hillen (from WA), Kaden Menzies, David McCarthy (Turners Beach), Ira Sulzberger (returning), Brayden Weily (from Northern Territory), Wyatt Garwood
Outs: Brodie Tiernan
COACH SAYS: Manktelow spoke of the club embracing a fresh game plan. "The focus from the group is that we just want to get respect in the competition. We've done a lot of work internally about just the word respect and what it means, which then will hopefully transfer onto the footy field. We just want to be really competitive."
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