EFL 2019: Rowville hoping to see Ben Giobbi for half the Eastern Football League season

Rowville has revealed it may see former Casey Demons and Perth midfielder Ben Giobbi for half the Eastern Football League season as the Hawks hunt a maiden top-tier finals win.

Ben Giobbi is brought down in a tackle for Noble Park. Picture: Stuart Milligan

Eastern Football League Young Gun winner Ben Giobbi is back.

But he won’t be at Noble Park, where the 22-year-old made his name as one of the competition’s rising talents.

Giobbi, who was named the Division 1 and 2 Young Gun winning in 2016, has signed with VFL club Port Melbourne but will play at Rowville in 2019 when not on state league duty.

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Rowville coach John Brown tipped the Hawks may see the talented left-footed midfielder for as much as half the Premier division season.

Giobbi also received Team of the Year and interleague honours in 2016.

“We’re hopeful we’ll see him a little bit but obviously we want to encourage and hope he’s playing a lot of VFL football,” Brown said.

“We believe we’re going to get a fair bit of service and output from him during the season.

“As he shared with me, Port Melbourne is a pretty strong list and he’s going to have to fight for a position, which means he could push back to our level at times.”

Giobbi will add a splash of class to Rowville’s midfield alongside fellow star onballer Anthony Brolic, who returns to Seebeck Oval full time this year after playing in Box Hill’s VFL premiership last season.

Giobbi has returned to Victoria after a season with WAFL club Perth. He also made eight appearances for Casey Demons in 2017.

Daniel Ousley is also back at Rowville after a season at Forest Hill.

“We identified we had a good midfield and a strong midfield group but we just wanted to add to that, and even Dan Ousley returning back to the club as another midfielder. He just showed his polish in the practice match on the weekend combining really well with Brolic,” Brown said.

“The three of those guys added to the midfield group that we had certainly gives us a lot more depth, which means our outer layer — those wing and flank positions — strengthen up as well off the back of that.”

Tom Freeman has also made Rowville his home club after transferring from Mt Eliza.

Tom Freeman in action for Mt Eliza. Picture: Chris Eastman/AAP

Freeman played the last five games of the season for Casey last year, culminating in a VFL grand final appearance.

Division 3 leading goalkicker Dale Hehir is also back at Rowville after kicking 71 goals for Scoresby last year.

Brothers Taine and Braeden Barlow have also returned to their junior club from Vermont, where they have each played in under-19s premierships.

Brown said Rowville wanted to build on its fourth-placed finish last year as it hunts a maiden top-tier finals win.

“The competition has strengthened up, sides have recruited exceptionally well and the football is going to be quite tough but we’d like to be fighting for anywhere in that top five,” he said.

“You’re going to need 12 wins to be playing finals I would assume again.”