North Geelong coach Peter Riccardi envisions new role for recruit Jasper George, injured Thomson star Jacob Knight focuses on off-field role
GDFNL risers North Geelong hope to avoid second-year complacency under a Cats legend, while an injured Tigers star will turn their hand to a different realm. Read what’s happening around the league.
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North Geelong coach Peter Riccardi predicts he’ll use new recruit Jasper George in “a different way” following the footballer’s past two injury-plagued seasons at Bell Park.
George reunites with Riccardi at Osborne Park, following the Cats legend’s two-year tenure as an assistant coach at the Dragons, as the Magpies strive to capitalise on last year’s stunning rise from 11th to sixth marked by a heartbreaking post-season omission of just 0.85 per cent.
One of eight recruits to join the Magpies ahead of the 2025 season, George made 17 senior appearances for Bell Park in 2022 and 2023, though a bad concussion ended the latter after just eight games, while a broken wrist kept George to just three reserves matches in 2024.
But while George, who has stepped back from the GFNL after welcoming a child, played predominantly as a forward at Hamlyn Park, Riccardi is treating the recruit more as a utility.
“I got wind of it, he works with a mate of mine, and I gave him a bell,” Riccardi said of landing George.
“I know exactly how he plays, I’ll try and play him a little bit different … he’s a little bit ‘crazy brave’ type of thing.
“Especially with that last concussion he had, we might try something a bit different.”
In essentially a two-for-one deal, small forward Terry Tseros, who works with George, has also joined from Apollo Bay, while Riccardi addressed the Magpies’ lack of height with the early signing of Lara key position player Ben O’Brien, with Mark Paramonov also returning to the club after two seasons playing for Clunes.
With ruck Tom Davis also expected to return after an foot injury ended his 2024 campaign before it began, the trio’s inclusion frees up 6’2” Cooper Pasque, who took up the bulk of rucking duties in 2024, to go forward.
“All of a sudden we’ve gone from a small side to, not as small,” Riccardi said.
With Harry Cornelius’ return to Tasmania the only confirmed departure, the Magpies regain one-pointer Josh Widdison after three years at North Shore, while Jamie Haber joins the club after over a decade at Watsonia – a club he captained – with good friend and Magpies’ reserves skipper Alex Divola a driving force in Haber’s arrival.
Small forward BJ O’Toole crosses from Corio to play with friend Blake Miller, while Lara under-18 graduate Sam Mahney joins brother Will at the club, with Riccardi praising the youngster’s composure with the footy at just 18.
Riccardi believed the Magpies’ recruiting haul had strengthened their hand this year, though cautioned his own side from becoming complacent ahead of a round 1 away clash against Bell Post Hill.
“In saying that, we still have a long way to go in getting to where we want to be,” he said.
“You can have that fairytale first year, but if guys are just going to go through the motions, we’re not going to get any better.
“We’ve brought these guys in for a reason because that will make us better, but to make us better they need to make the group in front of them better.
“There is going to be competition for spots … it’s going to be a good headache (for coaches).”
The Magpies will travel for pre-season practice matches against Springbank (Mar 15) and Queenscliff (Mar 22).
Tigers star set for new role, new recruit easing back in
Thomson premiership coach Paul Lynch says injured game-changer Jacob Knight will move into the coaches box this year, while the Tigers aren’t expected to rush GFNL recruit Ben Kamaric in his own injury comeback.
The reigning premiers lost Knight to an ACL injury in December, with the dynamic forward, who kicked 56 goals in 16 appearances last year including 11 during finals, undergoing reparative surgery on Thursday.
“He’ll jump into the coaching side of it and run my forward line for me,” Lynch said of Knight’s 2025 plans.
“He has got ambitions to play at the back end of the season but that’s obviously a longshot.
“His main aim to get it right and make sure he sets himself up for the back-end of his career.”
Lynch confirmed Kamaric, who joined the Tigers from St Joseph’s, had had somewhat of an interrupted pre-season, but was confident he was on track to putting past soft-tissue injuries behind him which limited him to seven appearances for Joeys last year.
“It’s all about building Ben up slowly, I’ve been really mindful of not letting him jump in to quick,” Lynch said.
“But he joined in match sim the other night (last week), so that’s was probably the first time he’s really jumped in and got his hands dirty.
“Hopefully he’s at the back-end of his injuries and he’s definitely getting some help with that.
“As I said to him, there is no use him flying this time of year, we want him playing well at the back-end of the season.”
Following their 54-point grand final win over Belmont Lions, Tigers enjoyed a strong recruiting period, with the likes of Lara duo Dylan Jose and Kane Higgins and ex-GFNL and GDFNL player Paddy Knott joining Kamaric as new recruits, while centre half forward Paul Davis has returned after a two-year stint at Mallee Giants, as has ruck Andrew Jarvis after a year away from football.
It comes after premiership midfielders Charley Donohue and Logan Mitchell departed for Nirranda and Tantanoola respectively.
“We’ve recruited really well, there is no question of that,” Lynch said.
“I think we replaced what we lost, but obviously losing Jacob to a knee reco, that’s obviously a big loss as well.
“We’ve lost three quality players, and probably picked up three or four or five to replace them.”
Lynch said the new recruits had hardly missed a session, describing their buy-in as “fantastic”, while the astute coach admitted he had gone “lighter” on pre-season training this year compared to his past premiership defences with Birregurra, Colac and Thomson in 2018, including giving ageing players a longer freshen up, with the Tigers playing every game in finals last year to ascend from fourth to premiers.
“In saying that our kids have been fantastic, they haven’t missed a session and they’ve also been running their own session on a Saturday morning and getting 10 or 12... that’s off their own bat,” he said.
“We think we’ll get a big jump from our kids this year.”
Thomson, who face Geelong West in round 1, have scheduled pre-season practice matches against Lorne (Mar 7) and Birregurra (Mar 22), as well as a camp for March 15.
Giants confident recruiting drive can pay off
Geelong West Giants coach Scott Frangos is confident an active recruiting period has the GDFNL club better placed to avoid a repeat of its injury-cruelled 2024 campaign.
The Giants is aiming to rise back up the GDFNL ladder in 2025, after avoiding the wooden spoon last year with a final-round win over Corio.
Since then, Frangos and his team have looked to bring in up to 10 names to address depth and offset the defections of two stars in ruck Rhys Ginn (Bannockburn) and captain and utility Josh Viney (Inverleigh) to rival GDFNL clubs, alongside the retirements of experienced duo Aaron Hutchison and Matt Ianelli.
“You don’t want to go out and finish second bottom,” Frangos said.
“But happy with we’re were at this year because we’ve recruited really well, we’ve got a lot of depth and god forbid (injuries) happens again, we’re hopefully in a better spot.”
Several Giants only managed a handful of games last season, including Frangos (three games), Justin Carey (nine, 18 goals), Brayden Mitchell (eight) and Tannar Stone (four games), with the hope all will get a better run at it this year.
James Pullan is the latest recruit to sign with the Giants after a move to Geelong, the ruck last playing at Collegians in the VAFA in 2023.
“We lost Rhysy Ginn to his home club Banno … we had some guys who could ruck and are still going to feature but it’s good to get another guy in that mix,” Frangos said.
“You can’t have enough big guys in your side.”
Amid a mix of returning and new recruit within the group, ex-Giants GFNL captain Jacson Collins is one player likely to fill the void of leadership left by Viney, Hutchison and Iannelli.
“He’s slipped into training, he’s been a leader, leading from the front and super fit, he’s definitely one of those guys I see doing that,” Frangos said.
The Giants’ forward line has been given a shot in the arm with Alex Blair’s impending return to Geelong next month, while ex-VFL and SANFL forward Joel Coombes will add another dimension inside 50.
Blair returns to West Oval after three seasons playing in his home state of Tasmania, having kicked 106 goals across 61 games at the Giants from 2017-19 and 2021, before nailing 95 goals in 18 games for St Virgils in 2022.
Frangos recalled watching a 10-goal outing from Blair in a previous stint at the Giants.
“That just stands out,” he said.
“What’s he’s done in the GDFNL has been proven before so we’re just looking for him to do the exact same.”
The Giants open their season against reigning premier Thomson on April 5, with practice matches pencilled in against Ballan (Feb 22), Wyndhamvale (March 1) and Rokewood-Corindhap (Mar 22).
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