By Tara Murray
The Sunbury Jets will have a different look this season in Big V men’s division 1.
After a tough 2018, the Jets have reshaped their roster, headlined by a couple of returning players.
The two big inclusions are Ish Sanders and Kris Blicavs.
Sanders dominated in his one season at the Jets in 2016, averaging 28 points a game, while Blicavs has played at higher levels after playing with the Jets in his junior days.
Coach Ryan Addison said they were excited by their inclusion. “Ish is a great recruit for the club and is a really good scorer,” he said.
“Kris is a Sunbury boy coming back to the club. I was lucky enough to play with him and bringing him back is a big part of what we’re trying to do.
“They are two of the better guards in the competition. Both are pretty smart players who both want to win.”
Addison said the return of Blicavs was part of a focus to try and bring Sunbury juniors who may have gone elsewhere back to the program.
Arthur Trousdell and Benjamin Jones are among the key players from last season to return. Addison said it would be good to have both for the full season.
Joining them in the senior line-up are Nathan Baker, Nathan Marshall and Ivanne Loncaric.
All three played key roles in the Jets’ youth league side’s grand final run last year. Baker, who has previously played in the senior team, was named in the youth league division 1 All-Star Five team last year.
The Jets will complete their roster in the coming weeks.
Addison said they still had room for three more players and were looking to add a bit more height to the squad.
“We’d like to get a couple of forwards/centres,” he said. “It’s always a challenge to get players to Sunbury. We are speaking to some players to come across and a couple of them have played in the championship division.”
Despite the roster being incomplete, Addison said he was confident they would improve on last season, when they finished 12th with just six wins.
“It’s a really different team to last year’s team. Last year we had a lot of players in their first or second year.
“We’ve got some real experienced guys back and we’ve had a good pre-season.
“Hopefully the group will have a different feel to it. The group will decide where they want to go and drive the behaviours and values.
“I expect to see a competitive team and I’m confident with the group we’ve put together, we could potentially be a really good side.”
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