Tara Murray
The Sunbury Kangaroos hace added some experience to its squad ahead of the Essendon District Football League division 1 season.
Kangaroos coach Leigh Sporle said the club lost a number of its 2019 division 2 premiership players.
“We have a pretty young list,” he said. “These guys we have gotten in for this season are proven players.
“We have a good mix, but we still want to focus on the youth.”
The Kangaroos have announced six new signings in the last couple of weeks.
Ferras Merhi, Saad Saad and Sammy Saad are no strangers to the EDFL.
Merhi has been a dominant ruckman for a number of different EDFL teams, having won a premiership at Roxburgh Park and Hadfield. He will take the pressure off premiership ruckman Brenton Sutherland.
Saad Saad is a well-known goal kicker, having kicked more than 900 goals in 10 seasons playing with Seymour. He has previously played in the EDFL.
Sporle said in his last season, Saad still kicked plenty of goals despite playing more in the midfield.
Sammy Saad is also a premiership player at Hadfield and Roxburgh Park and will add something up forward.
All three have previously played together.
This week, the Kangaroos announced the signings of Nathan Davidson and Blake Henderson.
Henderson has played with both Romsey and Melton Centrals in the Riddell District Football League.
He can play back, forward or in the ruck, adding some flexibility to the side.
Davidson will add another key target up forward and has been playing in BlackRoad in recent seasons but is known to many Sunbury locals having played for Romsey previously.
Another former RDFL player, Mark Freeth, who was set to join the Kangaroos for the 2020 season, has committed for 2021 as well. Freeth was a key player for Diggers Rest for a number of years.
Sporle said the club was still in talks with a couple of other players but had nearly completed its recruiting.
This will be the Kangaroos’ first season in division 1 after last season was cancelled due to COVID-19. The group started back training last week.
Meanwhile, the Kangaroos are after women’s and under-18.5s players for this season.
The under-18.5s are currently training Monday and Wednesday nights along with the seniors and the women’s side are training Tuesday and Thursday nights.
Both teams have new coaches for this season.
For more details, contact Allan Walters on 0400 408 019.
