Reigning Southern Football League division one premier St Kilda City will be unveiling an impressive array of new talent in Saturday's opening round clash against St Pauls East Bentleigh at the Peanut Farm.
We've lost a few good ones , but picked up a few good ones,'' was dual premiership coach Richard Houston's laconic appraisal of his team's recruiting efforts over the summer.
The Saints will be bolstered by former Port Melbourne Colts stars Danny Jacobs and Chris Brannan, while talented defender Jason ODonnell has crossed from Upwey Tecoma.
Another recruit of note is speedy onballer Tom Farrelly, who won Torquay's best-and-fairest award last season.
Big Steve Arvanitis has also returned to the club after a stint at Tooradin, while Houston is excited about the prospects of youngsters Max Brewen, Zio Holdinghausen and Tom Gillett, up from the Colts.
Mimo Dimachki (Goulburn Valley), Dave Sheahan (Nyora), Glenn Krepp and Daniel Ward (Central Murray), along with Mick Stinear and Nathan Harris (both to De La Salle), are among the good players who have departed the Peanut Farm.
St Pauls, under second-year coach Paul Howroyd, have picked up former Melbourne defender Paul Wheatley, with ex-Cheltenham forward Andy Taranto, key utility Ben Iacano from Northcote Park and defender Josh McGarry (Oakleigh) among the other new signings.
The Doggies are also enthusiastic about their up-and-comers from the Colts in Matt Heibstreit, Rhys Peet, Keiran Knox and Matt O'Connor, among others.
Their practice form has been fantastic,'' said Howroyd, ackowledging that his team would miss the experience of retired veterans Damen Shaw and Mark Dessent.
East Brighton takes on Tooronga Malvern at Hurlingham Park with coach Barry Hope looking to build on his team's steady progress.
We've kept our list intact and added some quality to it,'' he explained. I'm pleased with our recruiting. It's what we needed to do.
Former Bacchus Marsh onballer Peter Larsen and Brent Crawley, a ruckman from Mulgrave, will be among the new faces in red-and-white.
Ex-De La Salle pair Daniel Reid (half-forward) and defender Nathan Stewart will also make their debuts with the Vampires.
The Combine will be coached for the first time by former Clayton reserves coach Simon Pasinati, who has promised a harder outfit.
``I think the club realises it's been far too nice in the past,'' he told Leader Newspapers recently.
Pasinati's campaign will be boosted by the addition of ex-Collingwood and Carlton forward Trent Hotton to the ranks.
Former Turvey Park best-and-fairest winner Andrew Donaldson and Springvale premiership veteran David Sheehan are sure to make their presence felt, as will ex-Northern Knights and Montmorency backman Craig Skiko.
Jake Ellen (Highett), James Hammill and Adam Thorne (both to the Alberton league) are among the departures.
The Heatherton faithful will be hoping for a better showing than the club's last foray into the top division.
While four-time SFL premiership coach John Bennett believes the promoted Tunners will be a little better than last year, this week's test against 2009 runner-up Chelsea Heights is a tough way to start.
Bennett will have to replace experienced campaigners Clint Einsiedel and Matt Wardell, who have crossed to Springvale Districts as coach and assistant coach respectively, while Ben Skinner has moved on to Old Brighton in the amateurs.
The Tunners will be looking to 2006 premiership player Corey Grenfell, back from overseas, ex-Dandenong back-pocket Paul Doubakis and promising forward Adam Sparrow from Cheltenham to fill the void.
However, Chelsea Heights should prove too strong here. The Demons have recruited impressively, with a handful of former Edithvale- Aspendale players among the haul. Key defenders Trent Downey and Rhett Moore and goalkicking utility Mark Fitcher have crossed from the Combine, while Phil Smith has returned to SFL ranks from Catani.
We'll have about six changes from our grand final side,'' said coach Ryan Flack.
We've lost Travis Coote and Dave Jensen, who have retired, and Chris Vlahov has returned to Western Australia.
But Flack was keen to talk about the youngsters pushing their way into the side from the Colts.
Rory O'Reilly did a teriffic job in the ruck in our practice match against Warragul and young flanker James Spicer is also sure to be in the mix somewhere,'' he said.
Mordialloc hosts Cheltenham at Ben Kavanagh Reserve, with the Bloods keen to build on their first finals appearance in a decade.
With Aaron Martello again at the helm, the hosts will be unveiling John McConnell (Chelsea), Adam Biszko (Bonbeach), Nick Connellan (Edithvale-Aspendale), Tim Mavrick (St Bedes Mentone) and Matthew Hinds (Beaumaris).
Sharpshooter Luke Kirkland has returned after a season at Black Rock. The Bloods will be without Adrian Matthews for the season (knee), while Anthony Kelly has moved on.
Cheltenham must cover the loss of gun forwards Andy Taranto (St Pauls) and Dominic Dunne, who will play a few games for Knox before heading overseas.
``Those two kicked 120 goals between them last season and they're big losses, but we've recruited well and expect to improve on last season,'' said coach Brett Shalders.
The Rosellas will be lifted by the return of league-medal ruckman Ewen McKenzie, who missed last season with a broken leg, and Ant Symes is back from a shoulder injury.
New faces at Weatherall Road include former Ormond wingman Jarrod Lee, and defenders Justin Tolley (OakleighAmateurs) and Tom Cornish (Old Scotch).
Jarrod Martin has returned to the club from Queensland, while the signing of ex-Old Brighton spearhead Tom Mentiplay should help fill the void up forward.
Last Modified on 09/04/2010 12:03