Geelong Amateur set to land Lara stars Mitch Day and Dan Weigl as aggressive off-season continues

This Bellarine side has already started the off-season with a bang, and they are poised to secure another two quality players from the GFNL — one who has dominated in the BFNL before.

Mitch Day is set to join Geelong Amateur. Picture: Mark Wilson

Two of Lara’s biggest stars are set to join Geelong Amateur in a blow for the Cats as the Ammos’ aggressive recruiting this off-season continues.

New Lara coach Brett Henderson confirmed that intercept defender Dan Weigl – who was named in the Cats’ best in 15 of his 18 games this year – and goalkicker Mitch Day had informed the club that they would be departing.

The duo have signalled their intentions to join Geelong Amateur – where both qualify as one-pointers having played at the club previously — but are yet to officially sign with the Ammos.

Day turned heads in a five-year stint with the Ammos from 2015-19, kicking more goals than any other player in the competition with 378 in 85 games, highlighted by a stunning 114-goal season in 2015.

Day celebrates a goal for the Ammos in 2019. Picture Mark Wilson

He is one of the top GFNL goalkickers of the decade, including 28 goals from 10 games this season, while Weigl was one of the top ranked players in the competition in 2024 according to Premier Data.

Weigl also played seven games for Geelong’s VFL side in 2022.

The bookends are a major boost for Geelong Amateur, who secured ex-Richmond and Western Bulldogs player Sam Lloyd this week as their playing co-coach for 2025.

The Ammos also stockpiled talent last off-season, recruiting two-time Liston Trophy winner Tom Gribble and GFNL midfielder Blake Sutterby.

They also picked up former Geelong listed player Oscar Brownless, the son of Geelong great Billy, during the season.

Henderson said he was aware they the talented duo were leaving but is confident that the young group and recruits, like former North Melbourne and Melbourne player Majak Daw, can replace them.

“I fully understood their position before I took on the coaching job, and we wish them well. They have been great servants of the footy club and they are always welcome back, and we’ve got to keep moving forward now,” Henderson said.

“We’ve got a great young group we are putting together and we’ve been able to fill a few holes with recruits, so we think we are going to be in a position to be much stronger this year.

“It’s going to be some responsibility on the guys who are 22-24 who have been there for a couple of years. I think they are really driven to fill those voids and fill those spaces and help develop the culture of the footy club moving forward.

“I think that is really exciting, I’m really excited by the opportunity of bringing this young group together.”

Originally published as Geelong Amateur set to land Lara stars Mitch Day and Dan Weigl as aggressive off-season continues