EDFL: Tullamarine signs ex-VFL Kirk Lang for season 2021
Tullamarine has secured a fourth key recruit since the 2020 season was canned, locking in a classy defender who spent time on Werribee’s VFL list and is a Team of the Year player in the EDFL.
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Attacking defender Kirk Lang has put pen to paper with Tullamarine in another boost for the Essendon District Football League Division 1 flag contender.
The former Werribee VFL-listed player has spent the past three seasons at Oak Park and was set to take the field for Hay this year.
Lang has also had stints at Avondale Heights, West Preston-Lakeside and Elmore.
The 30-year-old was crowned Oak Park’s best-and-fairest and named in the Division 1 Team of the Year in 2018, with Demons coach David Connell declaring his recruit remained “super fit”.
Tullamarine has also secured the return of Russell Laurie and locked in Craigieburn premiership pair Dominic Micallef and Sam Laffan since the season was canned.
Connell said Lang would bring a crucial offensive element to his side’s defence.
“We really rate him. As a half-back flanker, centre half-back, him and (East Keilor star) Ash Arrowsmith are probably the two that have given me the most headaches over the past few years,” Connell said.
“Even with Oak Park struggling the last couple of years, we still had trouble with him and have ended up having to put a defensive forward on him.
“He’s a very different type of back where, in the trend of today’s footy, you need that interceptor that gives you a bit of bounce off half-back. He definitely provides that.
“Given we’ve got Russ Laurie back and Dom Micallef coming on board, we’re already pretty solid down back from a defensive point of view. We think he could be that missing link that will give us a bit of bounce off half-back.”
Lang trained at Tullamarine last pre-season despite not being a listed player at that stage, and Connell said he proved a valuable addition.
“He was probably our No.1 target to be honest throughout the pre-season,” he said.
“That was obviously before we got Russ Laurie back and Dom had come across, but we knew we had to strengthen that back half.”
Connell has made an effort to inject more speed into his squad following last season’s preliminary final defeat, with Jacob Osei-Duro (Thomastown), Rhys Clarke (Seymour), James Duell (Pascoe Vale), Michael Gatt (East Keilor), Liam Lucas and Michael Dalrymple (both Oak Park) among the ins since the 2019 campaign ended.
Tullamarine has contested finals the past seven seasons, finishing runners-up in 2014, ’16 and ‘18 and dropping three preliminary finals.
The Demons’ last premiership came in 2003 and the second tier is set to be hotly-contested next season with ambitious club East Keilor securing a long list of quality recruits.
Westmeadows, Airport West and West Coburg will also be in contention, while Taylors Lakes, Hillside and Roxburgh Park continue to improve their lists.
It is not yet known if 2019 RDFL premier Rupertswood will be placed in Division 1 or 2 after crossing to the EDFL.
“Obviously we all know where East Keilor’s at, but I think everyone can get caught up in what East Keilor is doing,” said Connell, who has signed on for the next two seasons.
“My philosophy is just to control what you can control. We’ll worry about ourselves and build the best list we can with a game plan we think could potentially knock them off on a big ground with the sun out on Windy Hill.
“We’ll be young and we’ll be quick. We might not be playing our best footy in the winter months.
“I think in the past we’ve had a side at Tulla that has been a really consistent performer during the home-and-away, and then obviously we’ve failed during finals.
“We’ve probably tried to change the dynamic and our style. We’re hoping when finals come around, it will elevate us to where we need to be.”
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