LIVE: Sydney v Port Adelaide - 7:40 / 7:10 Fri
Squiggle tips Swans at 57% chance -- What's your tip? -- Teams on Thurs »
LIVE: Geelong v Brisbane Lions - 7:30PM Sat
Squiggle tips Cats at 54% chance -- What's your tip? -- Teams on Thurs »
Weekly Prize - Join Any Time - Tip Prelim Finals
The Golden Ticket - MCG and Marvel Medallion Club tickets and Corporate Box tickets at the Gabba, MCG and Marvel.
AFLW 2024 - Round 4 - Chat, game threads, injury lists, team lineups and more.
Was told won easy looked big and strong up the middle with a lot of pace around! played the ground well! Also told some big names didn’t play free, Johnston, conca, donat the ones I can remember told up to 8 to come in! Any other news from other praci matches?
Kerang had a big loss to Eaglehawk
Be a top 4 in the bendigo fl you would think
They will be there abouts for sure. Them and slags 4-5 id say
I think they'd be hoping top 3, if both gearys play 10+ games they'll be aiming for the flag
Maybe I missed it - I thought he was saying Cohuna would finish top 4 in BFL?
My bad, thought he was talking about burra not Cohuna. Cohuna definitely not playing finals in Bendigo
all gone to Macorna apparently. Somethings not right for that to happen
They announced it to their club members last week that they would not have any colt’s
Conca and Hammond
Cohuna have traditionally always had good juniors and good junior systems, not great for footy if a club the size of cohuna, that lives and breathes footy in the town is struggling
Cohuna have traditionally always had good juniors and good junior systems,
Its sad to see clubs struggling in the cmfl, cohuna in juniors and it sounds like Tooley will be a side of recruits.Herald Sun article. 29 March 2023.
Tooleybuc Manangatang might not have been marching this season if it wasn’t for the recruits it landed in the off-season.
It’s the grim reality of the Central Murray Football League team according to president Anthony Hoare.
The Saints have been one of the busiest clubs this pre-season, signing multiple players from interstate as they aim to rise up the ladder.
Over the past two seasons, they’ve won just two games and finished bottom.
The club has signed ex-AFL player Josh Williams who has recently played for Southport in the VFL.
Williams played two games for North Melbourne in 2017 and 2018.
He has been joined by Kwaby Boakye, Blake Grant and Jacob Kenny who also join from the Queensland outfit.
Launceston's Tim Auckland (90) has joined Tooleybuc Manangatang this season. Picture: Andrew Woodgate.
The Saints have also been on the hunt for talent in Tasmania, signing state league players Ethan Goldfinch and Tim Auckland alongside Trey Clark.
Auckland, who is a ruckman, has signed after playing for Adelaide and Central Districts in the SANFL as well.
Saints football manager Brad Mooney said the club had been forced to think differently with its recruiting.
“We have to look outside the box here with the logistical side of things and the population,” he revealed.
“We’re looking at players within those state leagues who have been through the system and can bring some experience to our players.
“It was a snowball effect, once we got one we got the next few.”
The club is hopeful the recruits can help turn around two years of pain.
In 2021, the Saints finished bottom, losing all 11 games, before the season was stopped with Covid.
Last year was not much better with the team winning the wooden spoon again and winning just two matches.
Hoare said this season is the first in three where there hadn’t been any drama in the off-season.
“We had two coaches in a row resign in the middle of a pre-season, which cost us players and it happened the last two seasons before last year,” he said.
“We got Dean Helmers (current coach) at Christmas time last year which is too late to recruit properly.
“We made do with what we had for his first year and got a few contacts and Moons knew a few and it’s gone in from there.”
The Tasmanian players will be based in Melbourne this season while a couple of the Queensland recruits have stayed in the sunshine state and will play when needed.
Kwaby Boakye, will be part of the Saints this year, after playing for Southport in the VFL last year. Photo by Russell Freeman/AFL Photos via Getty Images
But the new faces have already had an impact on the towns and the team.
“The bigger buzz has been around the twos and getting a few players back from seniors (with the recruits),” Hoare said.
“They are quite excited to be back. We’re also getting a few of the young ones hanging on the fence.
“Hopefully they will get involved as well. There’s been quite a good local turn-up at training.”
Hoare said the aim for the team is finals but admits last year’s premiers Kerang and Cohuna and Woorinen will be tough to beat.
The team will get the ultimate test of where it is at when it faces premiers Kerang in the opening round.
“Generally Kerang have started a bit slow the first couple of weeks in the past few years so hopefully they are a little bit off,” Hoare said.
“But when we have had better sides they said they save their best for us.”
Importantly, for Hoare and the club, the recruits have saved the Saints from going under.
Hopefully the good times will come back to the merged club who won their only senior flag in 2007.
“We needed top end talent, so that’s what we went after, we couldn’t keep going how we were because the players were dropping off, “ he said.
“It’s more fun to win than lose.
“We think with the new recruits it can actually help with that sort of thing and get more people happy to be at the football.
It’s always been a battle to get players, all the farmers are getting older and their kids are getting older.
The new Central Murray season starts on April 7 with the Saints to start on April 15.
Macorna paying families travel money to go out there and paying/promising blokes Things to play out there.
No way would boga be under the cap, not sure league HQ are interested in doing much about it though
