EFL: Heathmont turns to youngsters as the Jets look to make a premiership tilt
HEATHMONT’S charge to a third consecutive finals series will be guided by a host of emerging players making their mark in the senior ranks.
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HEATHMONT’S charge to a third consecutive finals series will be guided by a host of emerging players making their mark in the senior ranks.
After the departure of several experienced players over the summer, the Jets’ 7-3 start to the season has been led by a core of young talent in what is a newlook outfit.
Fin Brown sits equal third on the Division 3 leading goalkickers table with 29 majors, while Bailey Stephens has also made his mark since crossing from Division 1 powerhouse Vermont.
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Fellow under-19s products Ben Irvine, Ryan Burleigh, Jack McDonald and Brent Honey have also made immediate impressions.
Heathmont captain Dylan Sverns said the Jets’ younger players had held their own in their first season of senior football.
“Those young boys, they’re not just young boys taking up spots they’ve been dominant performers,” Sverns said.
“It is really exciting because we’ve got that youth and they are really contributing.
“We’ve still got a lot of experienced blokes but we’re bringing a lot of younger blokes through and those blokes are getting rewarded through our development side.”
The makeshift ruck combination of Campbell Evans and Rob Savory has also become a strong partnership after talls Jonathon Wynn and Chris Nayna left at the end of 2017.
“Between the two of them, especially Robbie over the past few weeks, they have really held their own and given us a contest in the middle even though they are not really experienced in that area,” Sverns said.
“That probably hurt the most not having a ruckman but the two of those are really doing a good job for us and it’s really good to see they’ve put the team first in their attitude and cracking in, even though they are facing blokes that are a lot bigger than them every week.”
After storming into last year’s grand final from fifth spot, Heathmont’s loss to Scoresby on Saturday put the Jets a game outside the top three.
Sverns said the Jets had set their sights on a finals double chance as they search for their maiden Division 3 premiership.
“We felt after last year’s performance and the momentum we took into the end of the year and with our list, we thought we’d be up in the top five again,” he said.
“We’re not comfortable with where we’re sitting by any means but we definitely feel we can break into that top three come the end of the year.”
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