Northern Blues season preview

vfl.com.au recently chatted to Northern Blues senior coach Josh Fraser about what could lie in store for the club on the field in 2017.

FACT FILE:

AFL ALIGNMENT: Carlton

2016 FINISH: 13th (6-12)

2016 BEST AND FAIREST: 1. Tom Wilson / 2. Jason Tutt / 3. Mark Whiley

2016 TEAM OF THE YEAR: Tom Wilson

2017 INS & OUTS:
- In: Mason Blakey (Northern Knights) / Jake Bradley (Northern Knights) / Alex Browne (CAS suspension) / Liam Buxton (Vermont) / Sam Fowler (Dandenong Stingrays) / Kane Keppel (Eastern Ranges) / Angus Milham (Essendon VFL) / Cameron O’Shea (Port Adelaide AFL) / Fraser Pearce (Port Melbourne) / Michael Romero (Calder Cannons) / Luke Russell (Gold Coast AFL) / Marcus Stavrou (Eastern Ranges) / Ryan Wiggins (Lauderdale)
- Out: Damandeep Aujla (Coburg) / Alex Aurrichio / Brent Bransgrove (retired) / Jack Cripps / Hisham Kerbatieh (Coburg) / Kieran McGuinness (retired) / Fraser Russell / Tim Totevski

DEPARTED PLAYERS WHO'LL BE MISSED:

“A few guys who have left have been integral parts of our club:

Kieran McGuinness: “Kieran has retired due to a pretty severe neck injury he suffered last year against Casey (in Round 5). He’ll be missed for his on-field capabilities but also his off-field leadership.”

Brent Bransgrove: “Brent has also retired – he had a really long career with the Northern Blues (100 games from 2007-16). He’s someone that’s held in very high esteem and someone who – from an on-field and off-field perspective – we’ll definitely miss as well.”

Tim Totevski: “Tim unfortunately suffered another season-ending knee injury so he’s decided to step away from football for 12 months. We’ll definitely miss Timmy – he’s a very popular figure at the club.”

RECRUITS WHO COULD MAKE AN IMPACT:

Alex Browne (11 AFL games for Essendon from 2011-15): “Alex is raring to go (after 12 months out of the game due to suspension). I think the year he’s had off has really given him an appreciation for playing the game and he probably has a slightly different perspective on football now. He’s really invested in our club and he saw enough in the club to be able to recommit after 12 months away from us. We think his impact won’t just be felt on-field but also in his ability to help develop some of our young talent.”

Luke Russell (73 AFL games for Gold Coast from 2011-16) and Cameron O’Shea (81 AFL games for Port Adelaide from 2011-16): “Luke and Cam are guys with some real natural leadership qualities. Certainly the way they both prepare and train is a great standard for our younger players to aspire to. We’re in the process of assembling our leadership group and I’d be surprised if they don’t figure within that.”

BEST-AND-FAIREST CONTENDERS:

“I think what we’ve got this year that we may not have had in the past is some depth, due to some of the guys who have signed on with the club this year like Dyson Stevens, Bailey Jordan, Kye Declase, Tim Jones (pictured), Chris McCabe, Sam Peet, Sam Russell and Zach Ballard. All those guys have had a taste of senior footy and we’re looking for them to really stamp their authority on the competition. I’d be surprised if we didn’t see a few of them step up and get some podium finishes in our best-and-fairest, along with the big-name signings (Alex Browne, Luke Russell and Cameron O’Shea – see above).

“I think Tom Wilson can back up his 2016 season. One thing I’ve learnt pretty quickly about Tom is he’s a highly-driven young footballer. He handled the captaincy really well last year and I think he’s not only grown into the role but made it his own. I don’t see him sliding this year – in fact, I think we’ll be able to add different parts to his game which will make him a more damaging player.”

BREAK-OUT CANDIDATES:

Sam Fowler: “Sam’s a small forward out of the Dandenong Stingrays with some real talent. He’s quick, he’s clean, he’s got great goal sense and I think he can apply a lot of front-half pressure for us. He’s certainly got the smarts and he’s one I’m really excited by.”

Marcus Stavrou: “Marcus is a really interesting player. I think he’s a super talent. He’s a great size (186cm, 87kg at the Eastern Ranges last year) and he can play at half back and go inside the contest as well. I think he’s someone who’ll definitely add something different to our centre-bounce structure.”

BIGGEST TEAM STRENGTHS:

“I think we’ve got more versatility. I think our midfield bats a little bit deeper than it did last year and we’ve got a small forward in the front half in Sammy Fowler who I think can do some real damage.

“One of the real strengths will just be building on our culture and our systems. We’re 12 months advanced in our program and we’d like to think we’re in better shape and have a better understanding of the way we want to play.

“I also think there’s a fire in the belly of our returning players, because right up until the last couple of rounds last year we were still a chance to play finals and we were disappointed with some of our results at the end of the year. That’s been a motivating factor to continue to grow.”

AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT FROM 2016:

“I think just being far more consistent through games – we had a number of losses last year where it was really just 10 to 15 minutes of footy that cost us. We want to build leadership depth and we think we’ve done that from what we’ve seen in the off-season. We want to ensure that when things aren’t going our way that we’re able to wrestle the momentum back and when things are going our way we can capitalise on it.

“Building on last year, you want to move and transition the ball as cleanly as possible and I think we’ve been able to bring in guys who can use the football really well, but we want to be a really sound defensive side also. We want to eliminate the big scores kicked against us but still provide plenty of attacking options.”

COACHING PANEL CHANGES:

“Matthew Capuano – who’s a development and academy coach at Carlton – will be our senior midfield coach at VFL level. He’ll replace Damian Truslove who accepted a development role at GWS. (Former Murray Bushrangers head coach) Darren Ogier will come on board as a backs coach. He’ll replace Simon Pasinati who, due to work commitments, will go back and coach the midfield at Development League level. Michael Ericson – who’s been our forward line coach at Development League level for a couple of years – will become the VFL forwards coach, and Perry Meka will replace him as Development League forwards coach. Andrew Williams – who was also with us last year – will coach the backs at Development League level and also assist on game day at VFL level.”

Next preview: Coburg

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Northern Blues season preview

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