Barooga Football Club is looking to have a big year in 2013 and has already been training for a month with two new recruits confirmed and three more newcomers on the cards.
Barooga senior coach Shaun Robbins said they had lost five players, but are set to gain some exciting new talent.
‘‘We lost Shaun Ellis, Michael Egan, Dan Ellis Jeremy Stevenson and Steven McKee,’’ he said.
‘‘Having said that; we have gained a few.
‘‘We have confirmed Dylan Brooks, Mat Hendry and three more (players) to be confirmed hopefully before Christmas.
‘‘So although we’ve lost five, we will be gaining five.’’
The under-21 group started training in the first week of October and has been hard at work.
‘‘They (under-21s) have been training six days a week — three nights on the track and three nights in the gym,’’ Robbins said.
‘‘We have 19 players and they’re all Barooga locals.’’
This will be the second year Barooga has had an under-21 side and all have played at senior level.
‘‘One hundred per cent of them (last year’s under-21s) played seniors last year and 14 of this year’s under-21s have already played in the seniors.’’
In regards to changes in the way the club operates this season, there will be a distinct focus on the development of local players.
‘‘We are not naive enough to think we cannot survive without imports, but we are conscious of retaining good quality players,’’ Robbins said.
‘‘We really want to focus on developing our young players.’’
The club is hoping 2013 will be more successful than this year.
‘‘We were disappointed we didn’t make finals last year,’’ Robbins said.
The seniors started training in mid-November and the players are feeling confident in the lead-up to another season of local footy.
Last Modified on 10/01/2013 11:33