EDFL 2019: East Sunbury’s departures leave holes to be filled

East Sunbury could lose three key players as it looks to its emerging young crop for improvement after last season’s grand final appearance.

East Sunbury and Roxburgh Park lock horns in the 2018 Division 2 decider. Picture: Hamish Blair

East Sunbury could lose three key players as it looks to its emerging young crop for improvement after last season’s grand final appearance.

Brad Bernacki (Gisborne) and Connor Lever (Sunbury) have departed the Essendon District Football League Division 2 club, while big man Jorden Braddy is training with Premier Division powerhouse Aberfeldie.

The Thunder has not locked in any recruits, but coach Glenn Hopkins is hopeful his young team will continue to blossom after qualifying for the decider in the club’s sixth season in the EDFL’s senior ranks.

“It leaves a bit of a hole,” Hopkins said of the departures as he prepares for his second year at the helm after taking over from Steve Grey midway through 2018.

“We’ve got a couple of guys who have trained with us, not that we’ve signed them, who might be able to fill the void.

“We’ve got a lot of improvement to come, so we hope that improvement fills those gaps.

“He (Braddy) is still at Abers and going OK down there.

“So we’re not sure how that’s going to go. I think it’s sort of going to be him getting practice matches and that sort of stuff, so we don’t know where that one is, but good luck to him and hope he goes well.”

East Sunbury coach Glenn Hopkins. Picture: Josie Hayden

Braddy is set to return to the Thunder if he is not listed by Aberfeldie.

East Sunbury is chasing a big man and key forward as it looks to maintain its place among the competition’s leading sides.

But that is far from a fait accompli, with several sides recruiting strongly and Sunbury Kangaroos entering the competition after crossing from the Riddell District league.

“The whole overall standard of the Essendon league is really just getting better,” Hopkins said.

“Certainly Division 1 is really strong, so I guess the teams in Division 2 really have to build so that if they do go up they’re really competitive.

“Certainly Sunbury (Kangaroos) have pulled a few guys back to their club and look strong. Jacana are going to be strong coming back (from Division 1).

“Moonee Valley had a few injured during the finals, so we know they’ll be better, and Coburg Districts have recruited a few more experienced footy players.”

Hopkins fell narrowly short of steering the Thunder to what would have been a remarkable maiden senior flag as it lost the grand final to Roxburgh Park by a goal in wet conditions.

He will be better prepared for the coming campaign given he has taken charge of pre-season at East Sunbury for the first time.

The club will return to training on February 4 and meets Coburg Districts in Round 1 on April 6.

“The numbers were OK,” Hopkins said of the pre-Christmas training stretch.

“The under-19 numbers have been a bit lower than we thought so that meant the overall numbers at training weren’t high, but we were averaging our 30 per night.

“We’ve basically concentrated on the skill foundation stuff, getting basics right and we’ll work on a lot more of the game stuff after Christmas.”