Montmorency happy with star recruits preparation for NFL Round 1

Montmorency will wrap its quartet of star recruits in cotton wool ahead of Round 1 with ex-AFL gun Lin Jong impressing in his last practice match.

Montmorency’s quartet of star recruits have been given the all-clear for Round 1.

Barring any setback in the next fortnight, Lin Jong, Mitch Honeychurch, Liam Buxton and Danko Bzenic will all be ready to face Northcote Park on April 2.

All four impressed in the Magpies practice match hit out against Eastern league heavyweight Balwyn in a nine-point win.

Jong hasn’t played a match since Round 6 last season and has been nursed through the pre-season but looks ready to unleash on the Northern Football League Division 1.

Montmorency coach Garry Ramsay was impressed with what he saw on Saturday.

Lin Jong at Western Bulldogs training last year.

“He was fantastic. He kicked a couple of goals, which was good,” Ramsay said.

“He played the whole game in the midfield and kicked his goals from the midfield.

“He pulled up no worries, he’ll have a break this week and be right for Round 1.”

Jong ran through midfield with former Western Bulldogs teammate Mitch Honeychurch, who likewise has had an extended break from the game.

The star onballer hasn’t played a senior match since the 2019 Eastern league grand final when Vermont won the Premier Division title.

Ramsay said the connection with fellow former Vermont teammate and ruckman Buxton was something special.

“He’s missed 2020 and 2021 but he was fantastic, he was the same (as Jong), played 18 minutes a quarter on ball and looked really good,” Ramsay said.

“He’s got a great connection with Liam in the ruck, those two communicate together really well.”

Mitch Honeychurch in action for Vermont. Picture: Davis Harrigan

Liam Buxton in action for Vermont. Picture: Valeriu Campan

All eyes will be on Montmorency this season after a dazzling recruiting campaign.

The club is also expecting to have a settled weekly line-up with only three players – Braedyn Gillard (Coburg), Will Golds (Essendon) and Ryan Gardner (Northern Bullants) on VFL lists.

The Magpies also boast league stars Jesse Donaldson, Pat Fitzgerald, Jai Robinson and Sam Binion.

Ramsay has been impressed by the way his team has gone about it over the summer break and believes they’ll be ready to compete in 2022.

“The way we played gives me confidence, some of the young blokes have really improved and the recruits will make a big difference,” he said.

“It was a high quality game of footy to watch for a local footy practice match.

“Neither side was going all out to win, it was more about the quality of game it was.

“We’ve now got the list to match the top four sides whereas last year we were a little bit off, I’m hoping we’ve bridged the gap.”

Ramsay nominated Stef Uzelac as the player to watch this season.

The former Northern Knights gun will shift from the ruck to centre half-back this season.

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“I think Stef, our new co-captain, he’s the one I’ve seen the most improvement in,” he said.

“We’ve moved him to centre half-back and he just knows when to man mark and when to come off.

“He’s a super talent for a 21-year-old and his best footy is in front of him. I think he’ll be our big improver.”

Montmorency will wrap up its season preparations with a final hit out against Division 2 club and Montmorency Park co-tenant Lower Plenty on Saturday.