North Shore set to face St Joseph’s in GFL opener

North Shore’s pre-season is done and the Seagulls are ready for St Joseph’s. Find out why they’re ready to improve on last year’s efforts.

Football GFL: North Shore v Grovedale. North Shore 6 Jacob Sammut-miljevic marks over Picture: Mark Wilson

NORTH Shore coach Darren Winter believes his side is set to improve in 2023 despite the void left by one of the competition’s best players at the end of last season.

Former co-coach Nick Dixon left the Seagulls at the end of 2022, with Winter taking sole ownership of the coaching responsibilities and no obvious replacement signing for his role in the midfield.

But Winter said his side was ready to be competitive after a great pre-season, with a stand-alone round 1 clash against St Joseph’s on Saturday.

“We’ve got a number of guys who have spent the pre-season training with VFL sides, so to have those guys coming back with that experience of the higher level is an absolute bonus,” he said.

Football GFL: North Shore v Grovedale.North Shore coach Darren WinterPicture: Mark Wilson

“They’re very welcomed inclusions into our side when they can come in, whether that’s for round one or not the VFL clubs will communicate that with us soon, but our pre-season has been really strong so far.

“I don’t think we’ve got someone who can replace Nick Dixon unfortunately, he was obviously an outstanding player and a great leader on the ground, so they’re pretty big shoes to fill.

“We’ve gone with the collective group and everyone stepping up and improving, it’s my third pre-season at the club and it’s easily the best one so far, so that’s got us really excited for the year ahead.”

Jack Leonard is tied to Geelong’s VFL side this season. Picture: Mark Wilson

St Joseph’s will look quite different on Saturday, with a number of its stalwarts departing the club in the off-season, including Riley Ferguson (Geelong Amateur), James Gow (Koroit), Brant Haintz (Springbank), Luke Webb (Strathfieldsaye), Joey Chaplin (Devonport), and Riley Kershaw (retired) all moving on.

But Winter said Joeys would not drop off in 2023 despite the restructured list.

“We played them a couple of weeks ago in a practice match so we got a bit of a look at them before the season proper,” he said.

“One thing we took out of it was they move the ball really well, we were a bit sloppy and we’ve tried to address that to straighten it up, but I think they’re going to be around the mark for finals.

“They guys they’ve brought in will certainly cover off the guys that they lost, and then they’ve got some exceptional young talent, so I’m sure they’ll be contending for finals this year.”

Originally published as North Shore set to face St Joseph’s in GFL opener