EFL: Eastern Ranges pair Joel Nathan and Riley Smith join North Ringwood
North Ringwood has signed two Eastern Ranges products as the EFL Premier Division club invests in youth for the Premier Division 2020 season.
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North Ringwood will invest in its emerging group for the EFL Premier Division 2020 season as it stockpiles a wealth of young talent.
The Saints have signed Eastern Ranges pair Joel Nathan and Riley Smith and will promote from their under-19s group next season.
Smith played six games with Collingwood’s VFL team this year and is expected to be contacted for next season.
Nathan could also snag a deal with the Box Hill Hawks.
North Ringwood president Lee Robinson said the pair wanted to play at a community club.
“Joel was on our list last year but didn’t play any games and Riley, having a relationship with Joel and knowing Joel well, wanted to play locally,” Robinson said.
“We’re going to have a very young list next year so we’re stockpiling a lot of youth at our club for long-term success.
“We’ve got 19 or 20 of the under-19 kids coming through to the seniors next year and our core list is relatively young still.”
Robinson said the club wanted to “explore local talent” under new coach Robin Nahas.
“We’ve got quite a few local players … coming back,” he said.
“We’re growing the club from the community (with) a lot of local players that have been around the North Ringwood area.”
Robinson earmarked Jacob Bell, who finished runner-up in the under-19s league medal count, Liam Lyall and Josh Povey as players to watch.
Dylan Spurrell, Darcy Harris and Liam Taylor will also be a part of an improving group.
And star defender Michael Locco has re-signed at Quambee Reserve after receiving interest from rival clubs.
But the Saints will be without young defender Matt Kakaflikas, who has joined Doncaster East, while the premiership pair of Curtis Dunne and Tim Jones have linked with Ringwood.
Dunne and Jones featured in North Ringwood’s 2014 second-tier flag but both didn’t play this year because of injury.
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The two can be expected to play well at Ringwood, which will challenge for the Division 2 flag.
Robinson said North Ringwood would have good numbers throughout its teams next year.
“At the moment, we’ve got nearly 60 players signed for seniors and reserves at the moment,” he said.
“From the club’s perspective, our reserves have been uncompetitive for a couple of years and now having great numbers with plenty of under-19s, plus some players coming back to the club, our strength in our reserves is going to be good.”
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