EDFL: Northern Saints sign Tamer Abdallah and Eliot Kako for 2021
Two star midfielders will return to Essendon District Football League Division 2 outfit Northern Saints in 2021 in a major boost.
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Northern Saints farewelled two of their champions last November.
But Tamer Abdallah and Eliot Kako will return to the Essendon District Football League Division 2 outfit next season without missing a game.
The star duo had followed former Saints coach Brett Kennerley to VAFA side Westbourne Grammarians before the 2020 season was canned.
But the gun midfielders will be back at Charles Mutton Reserve next year in a significant shot in the arm for the Saints.
“It definitely wasn’t the same without them. I kind of felt something was missing,” president Joe Antonetti said.
“It’s huge. They’ve both been there probably 15 years each.
“To have them back is massive for everyone involved at the club.”
Abdallah has been crowned the Saints’ best-and-fairest winner the past two seasons since returning from a stint with Westmeadows and earned back-to-back Team of the Year nods.
He is also a Hutchison medallist, claiming the Division 1 league best-and-fairest in 2011.
Abdallah captained the Saints in 2019, while Kako was skipper the previous year.
Kako featured in the club’s 2013 premiership team and is also a best-and-fairest winner.
Antonetti said Abdallah crossed to Westbourne in search of coaching opportunities, while Kako was always likely to come back in 2021.
“The both said they want to come back for the younger guys, to be around them and nurture them,” he said.
“It’s what they had when they were younger, they had an older group around them. They want to be the same mentors for who we’ve got at the club now.”
The Saints were set to embark on a rebuilding phase under coach Peter Lohner this year after also losing Jake McSwain, Mark Sabatino, Brad Dick and Matthew D’Angelo.
But Abdallah and Kako should help them be a more formidable opposition next year after they were tipped to slide down the ladder.
“It’s good to have a young, quick side that plays fearless footy,” Antonetti said.
“But in big games, experience definitely helps, and more often than not experience gets you over the line.”
Daniel Gennaccaro has also returned to Premier Division club Pascoe Vale, and Antonetti said the club was disappointed but “understand he wants an opportunity at the highest level, which right now we can’t give him, being in Division 2”.
Antonetti said the Saints were hoping to secure more recruits in coming months.
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