vfl.com.au recently chatted to new Sandringham senior coach Lindsay Gilbee about what could lie in store for the club on the field in 2017.
FACT FILE:
AFL ALIGNMENT: St Kilda
2016 FINISH: 5th (11-9)
2016 BEST AND FAIREST: 1. Cameron Shenton / 2. Kade Answerth / =3. Eli Templeton and Jack Sinclair
FORMER PLAYERS CURRENTLY ON AFL LISTS:
- Selected from club in 2015: Mitch Brown (Essendon)
KEY 2017 INS & OUTS:
- In: Richard Atkins (Hampton) / Beau Bailey (Bonbeach) / Lachlan Butler (Parkdale) / Callum Cathcart (St Paul's) / Chris Colombo (Heathmont) / Tom Curren (St Kilda AFL) / Tim Dundon (Avenel) / Luke Gogis (Ormond) / William Gregson (Waitakere Magpies, NZ) / Reuben Hayward (Sandringham Dragons) / Daniel Hughes (Dandenong Stingrays) / Conor Larkin (Sandringham Dragons) / Jordan Matera (South Fremantle, WA) / Ryley Monkhorst (Box Hill Hawks) / Kane Nissenbaum (Sandringham Dragons) / Rhys Pierce (Hampton) / Nathan Scagliarini (Dandenong Stingrays) / Nathan Smith (Hampton) / Jordan Stewart (Dandenong Stingrays) / James Sziller (Oakleigh Chargers) / Josh Trew (Sandringham Dragons) / Sam Willatt (Footscray)
- Out: Cameron Banfield / Blaine Coates / Trent Dennis-Lane / Liam Hiscock (Casey Demons) / Charlie Kelso (Port Melbourne) / Matt Kreymborg / Kenny Ong (Collegians) / Tom Simpkin (Balwyn) / Mitch Wilkins / Jack Williams / Yilber Zijai (Casey Demons)
DEPARTED PLAYERS WHO’LL BE MISSED:
Tom Simpkin: “Tom has gone to play with his brother Jonathan at Balwyn. He was well liked around the club and you need those types of guys around to keep things upbeat. The St Kilda guys respected the way he went about his footy – while he wasn’t a glamourous footballer and didn’t get a lot of the ball, his presence will definitely be missed on the field.”
Kenny Ong: “Kenny was a player who came into the senior team now and then and really played his role as a creative small forward. He’s one that’ll be missed for sure.”
RECRUITS WHO COULD MAKE AN IMPACT:
Tom Curren: “Tom’s a professional on all fronts in how he prepares and how he goes about his football. He was just a perfect fit all-round to be named our captain. He’s a local person and he’s played 70 senior VFL games for Sandringham while on St Kilda’s list. Even though he’s not on an AFL list anymore, how he’s conducted himself and how he’s presented himself this pre-season has been outstanding. He’s been a true leader ever since he walked into the club last year.”
Talented youngsters: “Some kids I’ve been really impressed with that have come from U18 level last year are Nathan Scagliarini from the Dandenong Stingrays and Beau Bailey, who was at Bonbeach last year and got a couple of games at Dandenong too. I’ve also been really impressed with a few of the Sandringham Dragons kids from last year – Reuben Hayward, Conor Larkin and Josh Trew, and James Sziller from the Oakleigh Chargers, have all been given games over the pre-season and showed some good form in glimpses. Opportunities at senior level will be limited at times, but they’re all pretty smart footballers.”
BEST-AND-FAIREST CONTENDERS:
“From the Sandringham guys, I think Dylan Weickhardt (pictured) and Elliot Le Grice will be up there, while Kade Answerth came second in our best-and-fairest last year. Kade’s made of the right stuff and loves to tackle. He would probably benefit from being in an AFL environment, as I think he needs to fix some areas of his game in regards to his decision-making and a few other areas, but he’s a quality kid. Kade and Dylan will share the vice-captaincy this year.”
BREAK-OUT CANDIDATES:
Jack Noone: “Jack broke his leg badly in the semi-final loss to Williamstown last year and he’s slowly getting back into some training. He’s got AFL qualities and is a really good person. Jack’s a quiet kid and goes about it in his own way but he’s made of the right stuff. He’s probably looking at the first third of the season for a return to the field.”
Elliot Le Grice: “Elliot played almost every game for us last year. His leadership is really good. He had an outstanding game in defence against Werribee during the pre-season when I thought he got the better of (North Melbourne forward) Ben Brown.”
Dylan Weickhardt: “Dylan’s not a real flashy-type footballer; he really does his role well. He did some good jobs last year, especially in the semi final when he did a number on (Williamstown small forward) Anthony Anastasio. Even though we got beaten, he really got under Anastasio’s skin.”
BIGGEST TEAM STRENGTHS:
“Our midfielders and forwards will be strengths of ours. I think our midfield will run really deep, especially with the influx of St Kilda players we’ll have on a weekly basis. Our forward line will be really good in my opinion, especially if we’re fit at AFL level. We have a lot of small forwards vying for spots in St Kilda’s team that will miss out and come down to Sandringham to play those roles. Also, St Kilda’s rookie-listing of (former North Ballarat key forward/ruckman) Rowan Marshall will help us inside 50. I don’t think he’ll be on the rookie list for too much longer, as he’s going about it really well at the moment.”
AREAS FOR IMPROVEMENT ON 2016:
“Our VFL personnel’s changed a lot. We’ve got 23 new players on our list – which is half the list – and there’s been a fair turnover at St Kilda too, so you won’t really see the adjustments stand out and the improvement straight away.
“I think our consistency around the footy will have a massive effect on how well we go this year. I’d say our contested-ball indicators is an area where we need to get better.”
COACHING PANEL CHANGES:
“We’ll have Ben McGlynn, the ex-Sydney forward, as our forwards coach this year. He’s already been so valuable for our young small forwards, coming from the role he played at Sydney. Brendon Allen’s our senior assistant and he’s still our midfield coach. Peta Searle will be the stoppage coach after coaching the forwards last year and Adrian Connolly comes in from Frankston as our back line coach. He’s a really good person, knows his footy and the boys are really enjoying having him around. I’ve gone from being the back line coach to the senior coach.”
Next preview: Williamstown
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Last Modified on 05/04/2017 09:52