Country Footy: Sunraysia league season preview for 2024
The return of the Sunraysia league for season 2024 is finally here. We breakdown every team’s ins and outs plus reveal how each club is thinking and deliver our own verdict.
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Irymple might enter the new season as the reigning Sunraysia league premier but other sides are keen to end their run at the top.
The Sunraysia league is littered with talent, thanks to the off-season recruiting of former AFL players Ben McGlynn and Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti.
We look at each team ahead of the new season, which starts Saturday April 6 for two teams and April 13 for the rest of the competition.
Imperial
Last year: 9th
Ins: Luke Sicker (South Mildura), Brad Vallance (Ouyen United), Aaron Laskey (Noosa), Ryley Buntain (Noosa), Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti (Essendon), Bryce Hards (South Belgrave), Ben Galbraith (Prahran FC)
Outs: Matt Dea
Club says: “Everyone at the start of the year sets their goals on making the five. It’s about consistent improvement and setting high standards across our club. We want an improvement out of all teams, including football and netball. We haven’t set any benchmarks but with the squad we’ve got we should be pushing the top-five but other clubs have recruited well.” – Dale Stafford, president
We say: All eyes will be on the former Essendon player Anthony McDonald-Tipungwuti as he hopefully wows the competition with his skills. There is no doubt the team will improve with him and the signings made in the off-season. But can it translate to finals success? The competition is strong this year and there are genuinely eight teams fighting for five spots. Imperial is one of those but it might take another 12 months of stability and some more recruits to make the rise to finals again. But this year will be a better year for the Imps with at least a win to show for it.
Irymple
Last year: 1st
Ins: Jake Thrum (Golden Square), Heath Caldwell (South Broken Hill), Domenico Cirillo (Koondrook Barham)
Outs: Justin Robinson
Club says: “We’ve identified a couple of areas where we like to think to potentially improve on. Teams will be chasing Irymple and for us it is about staying ready, getting back to work, not getting complacent, keep trying to challenge each other to stay hungry and get better each and every session and make sure come round one we are prepared to play for four points. There’s no excuses from our end, we’ll present ourselves in a condition that is ready to go and put a strong premiership defence in hand.” – Jake Thrum, coach.
We say: History suggests you never take on Irymple, especially in finals, with the team proving time and time again it’s the one to beat when it counts. The question here is can the same team, littered with juniors from their successful under-18 team, repeat as others recruit to try to bring them down? Jake Thrum will add plenty as coach and comes from another successful team in Golden Square in Bendigo. The addition of him and the experience with the team will have Irymple right in the hunt for a fourth straight title but we predict their run might come to an end as others take over.
Merbein
Last year: 7th
Ins: Matthew Chisari (South Mildura), Jonty Marciano (Red Cliffs)
Outs: —
Club says: The club is yet to respond.
We say: Former Richmond player Derek Eggmolesse-Smith was set to play for Merebin but made a move to the Gippsland league due to family reasons instead. He would have put the team right in the hunt for finals but now his void will need to be filled by others. The side will still be in the hunt for finals this year and will be looking to turn their tight losses into wins. Last year the side lost four out of five games decided by 20 points or less. A turnaround in that form could have them inside the five at the end of the season.
Mildura
Last year: 3rd
Ins: Josh Goss (Adelaide University), Brock Ellis (West Broken Hill), Tyler Costa (Cardross), Josh Tidswell (Meringur), Nick Price (Irymple), Nathan Nolan (South Mildura), Jack Bower (Kangaroo Flat), Zac McDonald (West Preston), Ben Hurley (Northern Bullants),
Out: Not revealed.
Club says: “We’ve been able to continue that momentum from last season in the off-season and pre-season. There’s no doubt that’s the goal (the premiership) but we want our netballers and footballers to enjoy coming to training, enjoy matchdays and our social functions. On the back of that we’d like to think there will be success there.” – Ryan O’Callaghan, president.
We say: One of the premiership favourites who continue to make strides under coach, former AFL player, Sam Kerridge. Been one of the busiest in the off-season, making a host of signings. Mildura beat every side except for Red Cliffs during the season but ran out of puff towards the end of the season, eliminated in straight sets at the hands of Irymple and Robinvale Euston. Another year under Kerridge should see the team close to the premiership mark.
Ouyen United
Last year: 6th
Ins: Josh Gregg (Naracoorte), Adam Morrish (Nangiloc), Tate Hulland (Tyntynder)
Outs: Not revealed
Club says: “We’re really backing our local players to get us there (top five), the big name outside recruits probably aren’t there like previously but we’ll back in our talent to take us to where we want to go. We’ve also got a great group of kids who have junior footy here for the past five years or so, so we’re working on getting as many of them playing as possible.” – Fel Cua, president.
Mildura News says: Another side right in the fight to make finals. The side was two games from finals last year and with the juniors in the team another forward rise is expected from the team. The issue is whether the development can match other teams who have recruited strong in the off-season. The loss of ex-AFL player Dallas Willsmore for the season does not help. Time will tell on that but the Kangaroos will be in the hunt for the top-five for a lot of the season.
Red Cliffs
Last year: 5th
Ins: Kieran Bell (Donald), Jai Hayward (Omeo-Benambra), Sam Bruinewoud (Colonel Light Gardens)
Outs: Tyson Old, Jonty Marciano, Jake Reed
Club says: “Just because we’ve finished fifth last year doesn’t necessarily mean through natural progression we’ll finish in that position again. The talk has been about improving on last year. We have to work hard to secure a top-five spot. But if we improve from where we were last year, who knows what will happen.” – Ryan Doherty, coach.
We say: The team would have made the finals last year if the new format was in place. Instead, it just missed out by percentage over Wentworth, who finished fourth. The loss of Tyson Old, who finished second in the best and fairest, is a huge one but Red Cliffs have recruited talent to not only overcome his loss but focus on their area of need – ruckman/key forwards. Finals is a real possibility for the Tigers and they should match it with most, if not all, teams in the competition.
Robinvale Euston
Last year: 2nd
Ins: Charley Ford (Finley)
Outs: None
Club says: “It definitely hurt (last year’s grand final loss) but it has made a huge difference in their (players) outlook and the way they’ve approached the pre-season and this year in general. If there are any positives to take out of it, it was something of a massive learning opportunity for them that they now know they don’t really like the way it feels. They are going to work really hard to make sure they are in the best position to go that one step further this year.” – Phil Lamattina, president.
We say: Redemption can be a powerful tool and the Eagles will have plenty heading into this year after falling at the final hurdle despite being the team to beat all season. Expect the team to be around the mark again this year after retaining most of their squad and adding a couple of handy additions. As we saw with Collingwood in the AFL in 2023, sometimes you need to lose in finals to get on the right track for success. Can the Eagles take the opportunity if it presents this year? We’re about to find out.
South Mildura
Last year: 8th
Ins: Dru Pilmore (Dimboola), Josh Cieslik (West Broken Hill), Ty Andrews (Merbein), Jonah Licht (Mount Gravatt), Ben Wilkinson (Boisdale Briagolong), Taj Stevens (Central Districts), Sam Kalbfell (Queensland), Lucas Pettit (Meringur), Joseph Pollifrone.
Outs: Nathan Nolan, Luke Sicker
Club says: “We thought we could have had a couple more wins on the board last year. Looking forward we’re optimistic this time of the year. We’re not putting wins and losses as a focus, it’s more about improving as a group, we’re still a very young side. Hopefully this year brings some more wins for the boys and we’ll just see at the end of the year where we are at.” Kevin Burke, president.
We say: There will be some joy along the way for the Bulldogs but it will be a tough season in another rebuilding year for the club. The appointment of Tyler Curtis is a good one and his recruitment in the off-season will see some improvement in the team. But it will be just short of a finals berth in the new top-five format.
Wentworth
Last year: 4th
Ins: Jayden Sutton (West Broken Hill), Harper Curran (North Haven), Jack Cottrell (West Adelaide), Blake McDonnell (Glenelg)
Outs: Jack Manson
Club says: “We’ll be a better side than we were last year, when we were fourth, and we had a really unlucky year with injuries. We’re a pretty young side and a lot of these guys played in that losing grand final and they are keen to build some sustained success. So hopefully this squad is our next premiership squad.” Bernard Rigby, football director
We say: Last year was disappointing for the Kangaroos, falling at the first hurdle in the finals after making the grand final in 2022. With Ben McGlynn coming on as coach and some handy recruits returning home from the SANFL, Wentworth will be a team to look out for this year. If injuries can be avoided the forward power of Jarrod Brander and Wade Hancock can guide the team to premiership success. Both combined for 100 goals last year and that can be improve on this year with more continuity after a season together.
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