Mulwala has snared highly rated Hurstbridge ruckman Jamie Smith for season 2022. Pictured is Smith bursting through a pack last season.
A 6’9” ruckman, several other good recruits and a business-like trio of coaches for the senior football side have Mulwala supporters excited about season 2022.
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Hurstbridge Football Club vice-captain Jamie Smith will line up for the Lions and coach Rohan Davies is thrilled with the signing.
“He was my first call,” Smith told the Yarrawonga Chronicle about recruits for next season. “Jamie is an athletic powerhouse ruckman.
“I’ve known him for a few years. Country football is always something he wanted to do. He’s always been part of the leadership at Hurstbridge.”
Smith, 30, a project manager with a landscape company, will commute from Melbourne each weekend to don the Lions jumper.
Former Yarrawonga captain Matt Gorman will also play for Mulwala in 2022. “Matt played at Mooroopna last season and got into the team of the year,” Smith said.
Rohan Davies, Jackson Gash and Bodhi Butts address players pre season recently.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
The midfielder is “an absolute ball magnet” according to the Lions’ coaches. “He wants to get back into the area and we’re rapt he’s coming to us,” Smith said.
Versatile Josh Tonna will also be a welcome addition, from Yarrawonga, at the Lonsdale Oval. “He’s a key defender who can play forward too,” Smith said.
“We also have a group of six or seven other recruits who will all fit in well.”
Those players include Wally Thompson from Tungamah, a key defender who is deceptively fast, midfielder/half forward Thomas Wilson back home after playing in Melbourne and joining his brothers Brad and Jim, and Harry Meade and Owen Conway from Yarrawonga.
In September, Mulwala Football Netball Club appointed Smith, Jackson Gash and Bodhi Butts as the senior coaches for season 2022.
All three are very pleased with how pre season is going. Gash and Butts are on-field stars, Smith the plotter from the bench.
Matt Gorman will be back in the area, this time in Lions’ colours.
Photo by
Les_Garbutt
At least 20 players attend the current twice-weekly training of a Tuesday and Thursday. “Sometimes we’ve had 30,” football manager and long-time club member Dale Ferguson said. “It’s one of the best pre seasons I’ve witnessed in my time. The planning and communication that goes into training is excellent.”
When the Yarrawonga Chronicle visited training recently, the three coaches, with Smith at the whiteboard, were addressing the players behind closed doors.
“We’re really enjoying it, bouncing ideas off each other,” Smith said. “Of course we can have differences of opinion but we thrash them out – we’re all after the same expectations and it’s working out well.”
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