Thistles bring in big guns, build for premiership defence

Having retained the services of star midfielders John McKenzie and Fletcher Seymour, the club have brought in Longford premiership ruckman Sam Luttrell, South Launceston forward Jack Colgrave and Ben Darke, who has returned after year off due to an achilles injury.

"Some of the guys at the footy club heard that Sam was potentially looking for a bit of a sea change, so it would have been remiss of us not to reach out to the big fella and I'm glad we did and now we've got him on board," coach Brayley Coombes said.

Set to partner with fellow ruck George Oliver, Coombes said the key signing would help the Thistles take control of the midfield during games, while it also gives the side an extra big in the forward-line.

"He's a premier division ruckman and those sort of guys aren't falling out of trees, so any opportunity you've got to get a player of that ability, you've got to take it," he said.

"We also found last year by having a big presence and a big, strong-bodied ruckman in George, it enabled us to probably have a bit of an edge over opposition, so the fact that we're going to have those two big, strong bodies working in tandem is really exciting for us."

Lattrell's value will not be limited to his on-field ability either, with his vast experience set to add plenty to the club culture.

"He brings with him some high standards of what he expects of playing groups, in order to get the ultimate success," he said.

"We obviously have had a taste of that last year, and we're keen to have sustained success, so anyone that we can bring in with added experience and ideas, we're just grateful for that."

Also adding strength in depth to the line-up will be Colgrave, who finished his time with the Bulldogs with a reputation of being able to find the big sticks.

But Coombes was did not want to commit Colgrave to the forward six just yet.

"He's been doing a fair bit of running with our leadership group prior to pre-season and he's hit the track well and truly running," Coombes said.

"His fitness levels will hopefully give him the opportunity not just to be pigeonholed and give us a bit of scope throughout the midfield or possibly at half-back, we're not going to pigeonhole him as a forward.

"In saying that, when you've got a natural forward you're probably best to make the most of their strengths and he's probably going to give us a bit of flexibility to utilise Charlie Eastoe, who has played well and truly above his size over the last few years, in a more outside role."

Having lost Dougal Morrison (Mount Pleasant) and Tom Johns (overseas) from the grand final side, Coombes suggested that one flag had done little to satisfy the appetite among the rest of the squad.

"It's probably a testament to the group that they're the ones driving the sentiment that just once is not enough, they want sustained success not only for themselves, but for the footy club," he said.

"We said behind closed doors at the start of last year that we're winning it in 2023, that it's a non-negotiable for us, and we really were hungry for it last year, but I don't think that hunger is gone.

"We'd be very disappointed if we weren't to win it this year."