EFL 2019: Ben Giobbi commits to Rowville full-time

Rowville recruit Ben Giobbi has cut ties with VFL club Port Melbourne and will spend the rest of the year with Rowville in a significant boost for the Hawks’ chances of a historic top-tier finals win.

Rowville coach John Brown. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Rowville’s chances of securing its first top-tier finals win in club history have been boosted after recruit Ben Giobbi cut ties with VFL club Port Melbourne.

Giobbi started the year as an aligned player at Seebeck Oval but will spend the rest of the year in the Eastern Football League.

He played the first two games of the season in the state league and made six senior WAFL appearances for Perth Demons last year.

The 23-year-old midfielder also played eights games with Casey Demons in 2017 and won the EFL Young Gun Award in 2016 when he was at Noble Park.

He has been named in Rowville’s best players four times in seven games.

MORE LOCAL FOOTY NEWS

TOM BOYD’S RETURN TO NORWOOD ONE STEP CLOSER

BUILDING ROOSTERS STILL HAVE FINALS AMBITIONS

AIRPORT WEST BREAKS DUCK WITH BIG WIN

GLEN EIRA FORWARDS UNSTOPPABLE IN BIG WIN

“It’s a big get for us to have him on a permanent basis for the rest of the season,” Rowville coach John Brown said.

“Travel was probably a factor. He’s living in Narre Warren and the three times a week to Port Melbourne … it was getting very hard for him.

“He just decided it’s probably best he stays local and focuses in on his football and that being with us.”

Rowville has never won a top-tier final but is in Premier Division flag calculations after a 7-2 start to the season.

The Hawks moved into third after a 38-point win over Blackburn on Saturday, dislodging the Burners from the top three.

It was Rowville’s second significant scalp this year after an eight-point win over Vermont in Round 6, underlining why it could make a deep finals run.

Key duo Mitch Garner (ankle) and Jackson McDonald (scaphoid) also remain on track to return in the second half of the year.

Brown said his side believed it could mix it with the top sides in the competition — a 57-point defeat against Balwyn in Round 4 has been its only significant slip up.

“There’s not a lack of belief that we’re not good enough to beat anyone. It’s just making sure we’re consistent with our output, consistent with our performance,” he said.

“We certainly believe our group is talented enough and we’ve got the depth to certainly be pushing it with everyone else in that top five.

“We need a little bit of luck with injuries in the back half of this year and bearing in mind, if we get some of our players back … and our list can hold true, we’d certainly like to be a team that puts their hand up to be going deep in September.”

WHAT A LEADER LOCAL FOOTY SUBSCRIPTION GIVES YOU ACCESS TO

— Match reports, features, player and coach movements and analysis of all the leagues across Melbourne.

— Unprecedented AFL coverage.

— All the latest football news from across the country including Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail.

— Latest news and videos from the world’s leading leagues.

— Exclusive digital stories and videos before they go to print.