Omeo & District FNL Round 1 preview

BUCHAN

After finishing second last on the ladder last season Buchan is aiming to play a more consistent brand of football.
John Dick will be at the helm of the Cavemen this season and first year president, Matt Whelan, is looking forward to what lies ahead for his side.
“Our pre-season has been electric,” Whelan said.
“We’ve had good numbers around the club and last week we had 27 senior numbers on the training track, which was really good to see.
“We’ve picked up some players this year and hopefully we can be competitive with the top sides.
“The atmosphere around the club in general has been great, there are a few new
sponsors on board so the club is heading in the right track.”
With round one kicking off tomorrow, Whelan is excited to run around with his teammates again.
“Hopefully we can get the win and I’m really looking forward to getting back into the swing of things.
“It’s really good to have John on board again for his fourth season as coach.”
This season Buchan will be looking to get some game time into some of its younger players.
“We have a few local kids that have finished playing in the under 16s,” Whelan said.
“It’s a big step from juniors to seniors but a few of the boys are ready for the challenge.
“Our seniors train with the under 16s and its good because everybody gets to know each other.”

SWIFTS CREEK

Swifts Creek’s senior football side has one thing in its mind, redemption.
The Demons lost last year’s grand final to Bruthen by 26 points and first year coach, Dylan Hack, says his side is raring to go for round.
“We are coming in to the season trying to fix what went wrong in last season’s grand final loss,” Hack said.
“However, we have lost a fair few players from last season’s side like Jay Robbie and Conor Harvey.
“We’ve also had a few other boys go to Lindenow.”
Despite the change of players throughout the club, Hack says all the boys are eager to strap on the boots.
“We are all pretty excited to run around and have a kick,” Hack said.
“I’m in my first year as coach and it has been pretty stressful sometimes so I can’t wait for the start of the season.
“This year our preseason has been pretty easy and blokes are just easing into things before round one.
“Young blokes like Thomas Crellin have been good and will be pushing for senior selection.
“We will have a totally different team this season.
“Hopefully we can be competitive with the good teams and it will be pretty simple for us, see ball, get ball.”
Although Swifts Creek’s ambition is to win the premiership, it may be tough work. Hack, himself, will play a pivotal role across half back while Jordy Cameron will do bulk of the midfield work. Youngster Beau Hack is in his second season at the club and will most likely play in the midfield and across half forward.
If these players can replicate last season’s form it will go a long way in helping the side play finals football.

LINDENOW SOUTH

Lindenow South will field a younger side compared to previous years and president, Damion Blewitt, is looking forward to watching the youngsters run around.
After losing last season’s semi final, Blewitt believes that the Swampies are on the right track.
“Our numbers were down at the start of the preseason but they have picked up in the past few weeks,” Blewitt said.
“We have a lot of juniors coming through and nearly all of them will be pushing for senior selection.
“It will be the youngest team that we have fielded in a while, which will be surrounded by some older experienced boys like coach, Max Solomon.
“Our training intensity has picked up and I think that is because all the older players are wanting to teach the young kids.”
Blewitt says he is looking forward to round one and seeing what his side can produce.
“I’m hoping for a good standard and I think the competition will be more even,” Blewitt said. “I’m excited to see how we go and I’m backing us in for a good season.”

SWAN REACH

After missing out on finals for the past two seasons, Swan Reach is poised to be a big improver in Omeo
District Football.
The Swans have bolsted their ranks with a bevy of recruits and after winning one game in the past two seasons, have their sights firmly set on a top four finish, something they haven’t achieved since making the grand final in 2016.
Daniel Macklin will take the reigns of the seniors and in his first year at the helm is keen to install a winning culture.
“We are coming off a season where we lost by an average of 140 points so we just want to really install a good culture and attract the right people,” he said.
“We are a family-friendly club and we are aiming to get back on the winner’s list.
“This year marks the 10th, 20th and 50th anniversary of some of our flags and that is why we play, for premierships.
“That is what counts, playing finals and winnings flags.”
While winning is important, Macklin wants everyone to still enjoy their time the field.
“We have been fantastic in the past at having fun even though we are losing and this year I hope will be no different,” he said.
“That is an important part. Our whole aim is to have fun while playing.
“We have been focusing on having fun at training.”
Another one of Swan Reach’s pre-season focuses has been ball skills.
“We have been making sure our skills are right,” he said.
“If we can get our skills right that will really help.
“In our league there is only 16 a side so there is a lot of space on the field. It is a bit of a weird set up and not what I am used to, but having good skills allows you to really make the most of that space.
“At training we have been doing a lot of ball skills to make sure they are right up.”
The players have impressed Macklin in the pre-season.
“We have shown lots of improvement already,” he said. “I saw a lot if improvement in our practice match against Paynesville. Some of the Wy Yung players there were commenting about how impressed they were with our side.
“We have picked up heaps of players.
“Chris Robertson, Peter Ritchie, Dylan Holden, Richard Harrison and Daniel Stedman we have all picked
up.
“I watched Lindenow’s under 18s play in the grand finals last year and was really impressed so I got in touch with them and luckily one of the fathers, Steven Dadswell, already played for us so we got a bunch of them to come over.
“His son, Jordan, Liam Saunders, Albert and Arthur Wright are all jets.”
Macklin is excited for the round one match against Omeo District football perennial contender, Lindenow South.
“We can’t wait. We are all frothing at the mouth to get out there and give it a shot,” he said.
Club president, Josh Green, is excited for what the future holds.
“The senior boys have been going really well. We have a new coach and have picked up a couple of players who probably wanted a change of scenery and a bit of a fresh start.
“We are the sort of club that welcomes anyone so we were more than happy to give them a go.
“I reckon we have gotten better.
“It is a big step up from going to the under 17s to the seniors in the East Gippy league (East Gippsland Football Netball League) so a lot of young players have been coming to the Omeo league to play.
“In our league we really look after our younger players and make sure they also play on the young blokes.”

OMEO-BENAMBRA

Following a dramatic exit in the first semi final last season, Omeo Benambra is raring to go.
The Ranges lost by one point to eventual grand finalists, Swifts Creek and new coach, Grant Mooney, knows that loss is at the front of his player’s minds.
“I mentioned that loss in the semi the first time I met with the players,” he said.
“They have all had a good pre-season and the players have been really driving training. The numbers have been good. Everyone is keen to get back out there.
“We started in mid to late November and hit the track for three weeks before having a break over Christmas. We got straight back into things after that.
“The numbers have been fairly encouraging. Sometimes we would have nearly 30 there, which is great.
“The whole club is keen to get out there. Everyone is very rejuvenated.”
With the Ranges recruiting a bevy of new players, Mooney is excited for what the future holds.
“There are a lot of local kids playing,” he said.
“Jai Hayward has stepped up from the juniors alongside Cameron Roberts. Sam Grinter, who played for Wy Yung, is coming to play full time. There are a lot of kids who are really enjoying there time here.
“Dean Jobling is another. We have a good mix of players.
“Damien Pedder will be my assistant coach, while Ryan Coles has come from Lindenow.”
Mooney has used the pre-season to ensure Omeo Benambra is ready for back-to-back premier, Bruthen, in round one.
“We have been doing a lot of zones at training. We probably lacked that last year,” he said.
“We had a practice match against Paynesville a few weeks ago and we will learn lot from that. Both teams had a few blokes out, but I thought we did well.
“Our fitness is looking like it will be really good so hopefully we will be able to run out games well.”

BRUTHEN

Bruthen will be out to secure a rare piece of Omeo District Football Netball history this season with the Bulldog’s aiming to go back-to-back-to-back.
The senior side that prevailed over Lindenow South in 2017’s decider by 19 points and last year’s win over Swifts Creek by 26 points and will be under a new coach, Todd Cook.
Cook says his side is ready to go for round one but there is some pressure on his side to continue its recent run of good form.
“I’m really excited,” Cook said.
“I’ve been at the club for a couple of years now, it’s a really positive club and there are really nice people in the area.
“It’s daunting but we are heading into the season focusing on what we need to improve on, which are playing more consistently, changing up a few structures and maintaining and improving the culture of the club.”
The Bulldogs’ recruitment and ability to retain key players such as last season’s league best and fairest, Harley Kenner, over the offseason sees them in the hunt for another premiership.
“We’ve picked up Ash Hood and Sammy Gartside along with a few other boys,” Cook said.
Bruthen has been training since November, which Cook believes will put them in good stead heading into the season.
“We’ve got a really strong core group of players that we are working with and they have been training very consistently and setting the tone,” Cook said.