Eastern league 2021: champion Zig Alwan returns to Noble Park

Premiership man Zig Alwan and a forward from ACT Canberra will be among the inclusions for the Bulls in Round 1.

Champion Zig Alwan will resume his place in the Noble Park team on Saturday.

A batch of newcomers will have Noble Park followers scanning the numbers on Saturday.

Supporters, however, will have no need to look up the fellow footing it in the forward line.

They’ve seen him win premierships and dominate games in the gold and blue.

They well know the capabilities of Zig Alwan.

One of the more pleasing developments for the Bulls since they last played for premiership points was the return of Alwan after a stint at Rowville.

A club favourite since winning an Under 18 league medal and progressing into the senior team, Alwan told Noble he was “coming home’’.

He has played in all positions bar the ruck, but he’s most at home in the forward 50, where his marking and running ability make him a daunting match-up for opponents.

Alwan’s return game will come against Eastern league newcomer Berwick at Berwick on Saturday.

“He’s moving really well,’’ coach Steve Hughes said of the 2010-11 premiership star.

“When you’re arriving at a new club or returning to an old club, it’s typical to have in the back of your mind a point to prove and that type of thing.

New Noble Park coach Steve Hughes. Picture: Chris Eastman

“He’s just professional in the way he goes about it, knows his body well. In the first half against Dingley a few weeks ago he was dynamite. Then we gave him a break and put him back in for an intraclub last Thursday night, and he was moving really well again.’’

Hughes said he would use Alwan on the ball at times.

“He’s all-class, he’s fit, he’s got that work ethic … I’m a pretty big believer in playing your good ones on the footy,’’ he said.

“In saying that, we’ve got to hit the scoreboard as well. So we’ll have to balance that.’’

The Bulls have also welcomed back Ryan Morrison, “Bella’’ and Ali Zijai, and Brenton Hillard as full-time players after they stepped away from the VFL. Jake Frawley, who has yet to play for the club owing to a knee injury ahead of 2019, is in the same bracket, having been with Box Hill Hawks.

No longer on VFL books, Brenton Hillard will be with the Bulls as a full-time player this year.

Of the new faces, the selectors are likely to give debuts to Harley Fairbank, an Under 19 player recruited from Doveton, and determined defender Mitch Woolgar, who played in Hampton Park’s Division 3 premiership in the Southern league in 2019.

Fairbank was an AFL Outer East Under 18 interleague representative and is a wingman and forward.

“He kind of jumped out at me in the pre-season,’’ Hughes said.

“He never loses his feet, has really good balance, burst speed. He’s going to be a good player.’’

Sam Carney, up from the Under 19s, has also caught the coach’s eye.

Frankston VFL-listed Josh Stern will have his first start for Noble Park.

Stern, a forward, was a prominent player in the AFL Canberra competition and has moved to Melbourne to play at a higher level.

But another Dolphin who has joined the Bulls, former Sandringham Dragon Blake O’Leary, is tipped to gain VFL selection for Round 1 (Frankston plays Coburg under lights at SkyBus Stadium on Friday night).

Hughes was appointed to replace the long-serving Mick Fogarty at the end of the 2019 season but, owing to COVID-19, he’s had to wait 18 months to coach the club where his family has long been associated.

His parents, Wayne and Helen, are both life members of Noble Park, and Helen is part of the legendary Wright clan.

Daryl Pitman’s new book on the Bulls, A Noble History (to be launched this year), carries a photo of Steve as a club mascot in 1982.

He went on to play senior football for Noble Park, but injuries cut him down and he turned to coaching.

A premiership at Springvale Districts and a successful stint at Bonbeach preceded his return to Noble Park.

“I’ve had a gutful of training, to be honest,’’ he said with a laugh.

“I’ve become an absolute expert at planning training sessions. It’s all I’ve done for 18 months. Yeah, really looking forward to it. But I’m more looking forward to the young fellas getting out there.’’

As for Berwick, Hughes admitted he knew little about the Wickers.

He watched them for the first time last week.

“I hate the idea of not knowing the opposition very well, but I genuinely don’t,’’ he said.

“Believe it or not, last week was the first time I’d laid eyes on them, the first time I’d seen Berwick play footy.

“I’ll be reliant on people around me. People like Kyle (captain Kyle Martin) know their list quite well. But when you’ve been trying to get into a competition for the best part of a decade, and you’re finally in, and there’s a big crowd and it’s supposed to be a nice day, it will be red-hot, I would have thought.’’

Martin has recovered from ankle surgery and will lead the Bulls on to the Berwick ground on Saturday.

Jackson Sketcher is vice-captain.

* Noble Park will wear black armbands on Saturday in honour of former president David Allan, who died of cancer at the age of 65.

The father of star forward Shayne, Allan led the Bulls from 2012-2015.

A service to celebrate his life was held in the committee room at Caulfield Racecourse on Monday and was thick with people attached to the Bulls.

Reference was made to his nickname of “Dangerous Dave’’, coined in the local press after he declared the club would “ultra-aggressive’’ in its recruiting ahead of 2015.