EDFL 2019: Northern Saints full of optimism despite Rocky Ferraro’s retirement

Northern Saints coach Brett Kennerley is enthused about his EDFL club’s prospects this season despite the loss of one of their gun players.

Northern Saints star Rocky Ferraro has retired. Picture: Mark Dadswell

Northern Saints coach Brett Kennerley is enthused about his club’s prospects this season despite the loss of gun forward Rocky Ferraro.

The 2013 premiership player underlined his class last year with 60 goals in his return season at the Essendon District Football League club after a stint at Hillside.

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While Ferraro has retired, the Saints have been busy locking in recruits as they look to figure prominently at the pointy end of the Division 2 campaign after consecutive preliminary final appearances.

Defender Aaron D’Cruz and new midfield coach Jason McCormack have arrived from St Albans, while backman Ahmed Farah has crossed from Burnside Heights.

The Saints have also lost Ahmed Abdul-Wahed to Westmeadows, but they are set to unveil more signings in coming weeks.

“I think it’s up to about probably 20 new guys who have come through the list this year, but we don’t know if they’ll all play seniors or not,” Kennerley said.

“I specifically targeted a lot of young kids who were around 19-20 to build the list for the future. But preferably kids who have played at a higher level as well, so premier league players or Division 1 from other leagues.

“So far we’ve had pretty good success with that.”

New Northern Saints coach Brett Kennerley with president Joe Antonetti. Picture: Supplied

Kennerley has replaced Paul Dunn at the helm as the Saints look to rebound from last year’s calamitous finals showing.

After an outstanding home-and-away season, the minor premier exited the flag race after copping hammerings from eventual grand finalists Roxburgh Park (61 points) and East Sunbury (71 points).

“From minor premiers to going out in straight sets, you don’t really want to see that,” Kennerley said.

“We don’t think we’ve lost a great deal but certainly think we’ve added a fair bit, so I’d like to think we play finals again.

“But I think it’s going to be a really even season from some of the ins and outs I’ve seen.”

The Saints have enjoyed a positive pre-season, boasting training numbers of more than 50 each night.

Stars Peter Dispenzeri, Tamer Abdallah and Eliot Kako have caught the eye of the new coach on the track.

“It’s been really, really good. They’ve been really responsive,” Kennerley said.

“I’m a bit of a hard taskmaster, so I was interested to see how they dealt with that, and they’ve dealt with it really, really well.

“We’ve thrown a few different things at them as well, stuff that was non-football related, to see how they coped, and they coped really, really well.”

Northern Saints will meet Sunbury Kangaroos in the opening round on April 6.