Panton Hill to unleash trio of Parks brothers in midfield in NFL Division 2 2022

Panton Hill have brought the Parks brothers together and hoping their connection will translate to midfield dominance in 2022.

The Parks brothers – Oliver, Sam and Nick – join forces at Panton Hill.

Panton Hill’s Round 1 dream.

The opening bounce – Nick Parks taps down to Oliver Parks, quick hands out to Sam Parks, who launches from long range – goal.

While it might be a dream, the ambition to bring the three brothers together is a reality in 2022.

After five seasons and 76 games at Diamond Creek, Oliver Parks is a Redback, joining brothers Sam and Nick for the 2022 NFL Division 2 season.

A physical presence in midfield, Oliver is a significant boost to Panton Hill midfield stocks and is expected to line-up alongside Team of the Year star Sam and ruckman Nick in the centre square against Eltham on April 2.

The Parks brothers – Oliver, Sam and Nick – join forces at Panton Hill.

Redbacks coach Simon Amore was looking forward to seeing the three run out together at Cracknell Reserve.

“Having his two brothers, it’s been a dream of ours to get the three boys together,” Amore said.

“We’ve been on Ollie’s case for a little while now and we’re fortunate enough that the three of them saw the time was right to make that dream a reality and play some senior footy together.

“We’re really excited, Ollie’s obviously been a premier midfielder in the competition for a little while now.

“He’s definitely ruckman size, Nick and Ollie are both quite tall and physically have some prowess about them.

“The three of them bring different traits; Ollie will play midfield primarily, Nick is our No.1 ruckman and Sam is our premier onballer.

“We’re excited to not only have all three of them in the team but have them at the centre bounce together come Round 1 is a really exciting prospect for the footy club.”

Panton Hill are looking to build on a solid promotion season in Division 2, finishing eighth with three wins.

Ethan Gorski in action for Laurimar. Picture: George Salpigtidis

Parks isn’t the only new face ahead of the new season.

Division 3 Team of the Year wingman Ethan Gorski has crossed from Laurimar, Nathan Jasper has been lured across from division rival St Mary’s and James McCallum from Eltham.

Tom Sheppard agreed to terms last season before rupturing his ACL in pre-season and is officially signed on.

The losses, however, are significant.

Premiership captain Mitch Anderson has returned to the Tallangatta league, along with Brent Ryan, mid-season signing Mitch Merkel has returned to Greensborough, Matt Byron has joined Eltham and Tait Forster has left for Richmond Central.

Amore said the club had made the decision to rejuvenate it’s list.

“We made a concerted effort to get younger this season,” he said.

“We had a real push to put a under-19 into play this season – that’s still up in the air at the moment – but it’s given us a real injection of youth, which is what the club needed.

“Nathan will be a massive addition for us across half-back and James is a young kid from Eltham who will play ruck and midfield for us.

“Ethan was Team of the Year in Division 3 last year and will really strengthen our midfield and wing stocks and Tom Sheppard – who we recruited last year – has come back fit and firing.

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“For us depth has been an Achilles heel at times just because we don’t have that infrastructure or under-19 pool to delve into.

“We’ve tried to get deeper and have some options we can turn to, as well as bring in a bit of top-end talent, and we’re excited about what 2022 will bring.”

Panton Hill has locked in a pair of pre-season practice matches but both are contingent on ground availability.

The Redbacks plan to play Old Eltham Collegians and EDFL Division 1 outfit Craigieburn.