Epping re-signs coach Aaron Johnson, confident of retaining list
AFL Victoria is set to slash salary caps across metropolitan leagues but re-signed Epping coach Aaron Johnson is confident the club can still retain its impressive haul of recruits for 2021.
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Re-signed Epping coach Aaron Johnson is confident the club can retain its haul of recruits for 2021 despite the expected salary cap cuts.
The Pingers completed one of the most impressive off-season recruiting campaigns in the Northern Football League in 2020.
Two-time West Preston-Lakeside premiership midfielder James Tadd, NFL inter-league and North Heidelberg forward Jhye Baddeley-Kelly and Lalor captain Jackson Freebairn were all set to don the navy blue this year.
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The Division 2 salary cap could be as low as $80,000 in 2021 and beyond, down from the $130,000 limit for this season.
However, Johnson was confident in the progress his club had made to retain its promising list.
“We believe the salary cap is coming down in all three divisions and they’re trying to align everything (across leagues),” he said.
“With our young list and tight knit group, they want to play together, which is why we targeted them.
“Jhye (Baddeley-Kelly) played his juniors here, Jackson Freebairn played his juniors here, Luke Nichol (as well) and James Tadd has a connection with a few of the boys.”
Tom Mitchell (Darwin), Adrian Cirianni (Lalor), Jordan Wilkins (Laurimar) and Aaron Gibson (Fitzroy Stars) also arrived over the summer.
Reed Jepson (Northcote Park) and Tom Burnside (Balranald) were the major departures.
Johnson has signed on until the end of 2021 and after claiming the wooden spoon in his first season is excited by the club’s future.
“Last year the results weren’t great but internally we know where we’re at,” he said.
“With a young list we’re heading the right direction and we recruited really well.
“It’s just disappointing we couldn’t get on the park with all the new recruits to showcase what we’ve done to turn the club around.”
While the club has been unable to come together since March there are plans to resume training when COVID-19 restrictions are eased.
“It’s going to be interesting trying to recruit in this environment because I can’t showcase the beautiful facilities at Epping in a Zoom meeting,” Johnson said.
“Hopefully by September we can train for a month, just to get the boys back together, then break for a month and hit it in November.”