EDFL: West Coburg loses five key players for 2019

West Coburg president David Gloury has given his take on an eventful off-season so far for the EDFL Division 1 club.

Marwan Abdul-Wahed is one of five departures from West Coburg. Picture: James Ross

WEST Coburg remains adamant it will boast a more formidable line-up in 2019 despite waving goodbye to five key players.

Premiership players Omar Saad, Omar Abdallah and Marwan Abdul-Wahed have crossed to Division 1 rival Westmeadows, while Daniel Johncock and Daniel Archer have followed former coach Digby Morrell to Premier Division club Pascoe Vale.

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West Coburg was relegated from the top flight after claiming two wins this year and has appointed Dale May as coach.

President David Gloury said he was disappointed to lose three players to a club in the same division.

“Unfortunately the old concept of team loyalty, that just doesn’t exist these days for many players,” Gloury said.

“That’s the thing I find most disappointing. I suppose in my era, your club was your club, whether they won or lost and whatever division they were in. These days it’s not just the same.

“But, having said that, players make their own decisions and those three players have given good service to the club over a number of years. It will be difficult to play against them.”

While their midfield has taken a big hit, the Burgers are confident they will be in a strong position when they unveil their recruits in coming weeks.

Four-time Strathmore flag winner May will be supported by experienced mentor Robert Hyde, who will be his assistant and director of coaching. West Coburg spent four years in Premier Division after claiming the 2014 Division 1 premiership.

“Even at this stage, we think we’ll be a stronger and better team than we were in 2018,” Gloury said.

“We’ve got some really good things happening. With Dale and Robert, it’s a new beginning and there’s a real positivity around the place.

“As we said all along, if we retained 90 per cent of our list we felt we’d be very, very competitive and really nothing’s changed. We approach pre-season with a real optimism.”