The Warriors BIG V men have signed fifteen players – with nine returning from 2012, including league All Star nominee Sean Armstrong and the ever reliable Bill Winder. The Ryan Rogers era began with James Topp being announced as new team captain, while Jay Richardson joined his close friend from Blackburn and sharp shooter Aron Pantano has shown he can knock it down from the car park. The biggest and most anticipated signing to come was the coup of Jason Ferriere committing after 10 years involved at BIG V Championship and three years in the NCAA college system.

Having two teams competing in the MMBL competition has allowed Rogers to test his structures in competitive situations and see his new charges in action which has been invaluable. The competition for spots will be red hot and a big emphasis has been on adjusting to having a structured game style. With some more senior guys coming onboard, the development of James Magrath, Sean Armstrong, Tim Bydder and Jake Heyen has been fast tracked as they have been pushed with quality opposition in training situations.

Head Coach Ryan Rogers said that he is excited with what he has seen in the eight weeks training prior to Christmas but was disappointed with the loss of Daniel Jeavons who has opted to have a break in 2013. The team have already scheduled five pre-season games which will be announced in the new year and a team pre-season camp has been booked for February 8-10 at The Summit in Gippsland.

“The age profile was something that I wanted to address immediately with a number of guys quite young (18-20yrs) and a few at the other end of the spectrum (29-32yrs) so all the guys I have brought in fit perfectly between that bracket and more importantly add great value positionally to the returning crew. The roster we’ve put together has a strong influence of guys who individually have a point to prove, we will be much deeper than the 2-18 squad of 2012 and finals are a must with the pickups we’ve acquired” said Rogers.

DEPARTED PLAYERS – Bayi Handy (Released), Aaron Olczyk (Released), Daniel Jeavons (Resting), Tyson Harding (Released)
 
RETURNING PLAYERS – Bill Winder, Tim Bydder, Tim Eakins, Sean Armstrong, James Magrath, Jake Heyen, Daniel Stow, Craig Drew, Charlie Tauali
 
NEW PLAYERS – James Topp (Warrandyte), Jason Ferriere (Ringwood), Jay Richardson (Blackburn), Aron Pantano (Redlands), Savin Lopez, Leon Stapley (Retirement)