Heading into Christmas, Lancefield coach Ash Manning thought his side was looking at a bottom-three finish in the Riddell District Football League in the coming season.
“The pre-season started pretty ordinary,” he said last week. “We wanted to recruit a few players but were struggling to find anyone. We couldn’t get the first domino to fall and I was starting to worry.”
But now things have turned around, leaving the coach more confident and excited about what’s ahead.
“We landed a few players and I’m pretty happy with how we sit,” Manning said.
“You hear rumours about other sides and the pressure was on to pick up some players. We’ve got six new players who will be in our best 12 or 15 and it adds more dimension.”
Leading the signings is former VFL player Myles Dorman, while former AFL player Cameron Wight comes across from reigning RDFL premiers Romsey.
“Cam was tossing up about retirement, as was his brother, Brad, who plays for us.
“We asked Brad about getting Cam to play with us and [our full-forward] Jon Kent was important to the process as he and Cam had played together in Greenvale. In the end, the brothers decided they wanted to play together.”
Drew Hynninen has come across from Tullamarine, while Seymour duo William Brock and James Wooster look set to be key players this season.
Manning said the signings of Wight and Brock would add much-needed height to the side.
“Either Cam or Will will play forward when the other one is in the ruck.
“We were undersized in the ruck last season. Now we have players 6ft 6in [198cm] and 6ft 7in [200cm] who can give us first use of the ball. Last year we were chasing the ball from the start.”
The second-year coach said that as well as gaining new players to the side, many of the existing players had showed a renewed commitment.
“I know the competition better and who we have to stop … last year we were relying on word of mouth,” he said.
“We’ve got a couple of kids who are taking footy more seriously this season who will likely play seniors.
“Professionalism is a bit better this year and I think we’ve got through to the group the importance of wanting to train and play senior football.”
The club will kick off its season against Woodend Hesket at Gilbert Gordon Oval on April 9.
