Drysdale Hawks sign two GFL players ahead of 2023 season

Drysdale has been a genuine contender for the past few seasons, but co-coach Tom Ruggles knows it will need to make some slight adjustments to its game style in order to break through for a premiership.

Michael Case has left Leopold and will play at Drysdale Hawks in 2023. Picture: Contributed

DRYSDALE co-coach Tom Ruggles believes a few minor tweaks need to be made to the Hawks‘ game style in order to compete for a premiership.

The Hawks fell short of the grand final after a promising season, with Barwon Heads eventually claiming back-to-back flags in a shock win against Torquay.

Ruggles said the Hawks, who had already been active in recruiting new players, would not completely change how they played football but they “need to be bold”.

“We’re pretty content with how we went about it, obviously there’s a few things that we’re going to have to tweak, and we want to be bold with the players we bring in,” he said.

“The guys that are coming in have that speed and dash around the ground, we’re a good inside team but we need to be bold with our ball movement.

Tom Ruggles for Drysdale.

“We didn’t quite make the grand final so we did look at the preliminary final and we’re going to work out what we need to do.

“The basis of our structure will stay the same, but with a few minor tweaks to obviously get us a step closer to a grand final.”

Former Footscray VFL player Ross Celano has joined the team, along with Michael Pace moving across from Leopold.

Ruggles said he expected the pair to slot into the best 22 in round 1.

“Both guys will play plenty of senior footy for us, they’ll fit into our game style really nicely,” he said.

“There’s another couple of guys that we’re targeting, once again we’re looking for that outside pace through the midfield and forward line, and those guys will hopefully fill those holes again.”

‘Speed and class’ added for Hawks flag chase

DRYSDALE co-coach Tom Ruggles has declared his side can take the next step and contend for a premiership after a targeted recruiting spree netted two key players.

The Hawks suffered a six-goal preliminary final loss to Barwon Heads, often getting caught out by the daring Seagulls who went on to surprise Torquay in the grand final and claim back-to-back premierships.

Ruggles confirmed the signing of two new recruits Michael Case (Leopold) and Ross Celano (North Shore), and said the pair would instantly add “speed and class” to the premiership hopefuls.

“Michael is a young kid who has struggled with a bit of injury last year and he wanted to step back from that level of GFL footy where it takes up all the time,” he said.

“He’ll be really handy for us going through the midfield, he’s still young so we’re keen to develop him a bit.

“Ross has actually been our fitness guy for the last two or three years, and is now coming on board to play.

Ross Celano has left North Shore and will play at Drysdale Hawks in 2023. Picture: Contributed

“They’ll have an instant impact for us, Michael will play as a midfield and forward sort of player, and Ross has a lot of pace with him, we’re not too sure where we’ll use him yet but he could be on the ball or on one of the flanks, he’s pretty flexible.”

Case played the opening four rounds of the season for Leopold, kicking three goals before a number of injuries marred the remainder of his 2022 campaign.

Celano spent time on Footscray’s VFL list and has played in the region for Portarlington in 2019.

Ruggles said the club had been specific in its targets, instead of mass recruiting drives.

“We looked at how we ended the finals and saw that we could use a bit of pace, we’ve got some good inside midfielders but needed some pace on the outside,” he said.

Michael Case has left Leopold and will play at Drysdale Hawks in 2023. Picture: Contributed

“That’s what we’ve looked at, those two boys have brought that in straight away for us and we’ve hopefully got one or two more coming in as well.

“We haven’t gone out and tried to sign anyone and everyone, we felt like we recruited well last year and they’ve all stuck around, so we’re trying to be a bit more specific about what we want.”

The Hawks have only suffered one loss from the 2022 senior list, with Billy Beardsell moving to Queensland.

Originally published as Drysdale Hawks sign two GFL players ahead of 2023 season