Watsonia looking for existing, new players to step up in NFNL Division 2
31 for 31: The need to replace key players has opened up several opportunities at Watsonia with existing and new players ready to step up this season.
Northern
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Opportunity abounds at Watsonia.
There are several senior spots up for grabs this season and the chance to repeat last season’s drought-breaking NFNL Division 2 finals appearance.
The Saints were plundered by division rivals over the off-season but have in turn recruited strongly.
The club will also trust in the continued development of its graduated under-19s, which won the Division 3 premiership in 2022 and stepped up to Division 2 last season.
Watsonia will look to replace the likes of league-leading goalkicker James Lucente, Julian Janev, Charlie Khoury (all Thomastown), Kobe and Teague van Zwienen (both South Morang) and Adrian Alfonsi (Epping).
The 2019 Division 1 under-19 league best-and-fairest Rayden Garrard (Greensborough), Tim Todd, Baxter Evans (both Heidelberg), Damon Braby (Eltham), Ethan Lowe (Macleod) and Cody Tulloch (Bright) have come in.
Saints coach George Lattouf said there were several young players also ready to step up.
“I’ve said before, it just provides opportunity for other players,” Lattouf said.
“We’ve picked up a couple of players from other clubs – our best recruiters are our players – which shows our culture is pretty good.
“Those guys that have left, good luck to them, but we move on pretty quickly.
“We’ve got Ray Garrard in from Greensborough, Ethan Lowe from Macleod, Damo Braby from Eltham and Tim Todd from Heidelberg.
“Our existing players also need to step up like Dan Annetta and our under-19s like Nick Lawson and James Charbel and Ben Parkes, these young kids have an opportunity to play senior football.”
The elimination final experience ended in a 79-point defeat at the hands of South Morang.
Lattouf said the club had worked hard over the summer tweaking its gameplan after the loss.
The Saints have had two practice matches, beating Division 3 grand finalist Mernda and losing to Eastern Division 2 grand finalist Heathmont.
A final hitout against Essendon District Division 2 premier Oak Park is on Saturday.
Lattouf said he was pleased with how the squad had adapted over summer.
“The whole playing group has been working hard.
“Josh Boulton has had a big pre-season, Corey Potter, Dan Annetta, all our recruits have hardly missed a session, which is great, and the young guys have stepped up,” he said.
“We want to continue to work on our gameplan and fitness, our ambition is exactly the same as last year – get in that top-five area.
“That’s the fundamental goal, we’ll take it week-by-week and look for consistency and improvement in every game.
“(Finals) was a good experience for our playing group.
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“Respect to South Morang, they played a great game, but for us that’s our learning, we took away a couple of things to work on in the pre-season.
“That’s our benchmark, it get back in the top-five again.”
Boulton and Lucente were named in the Division 2 Team of the Year last season, while Riley Taylor and Lucente both placed in the top-10 in the league best-and-fairest.
Jack Larkin was a runaway winner in the reserve grade league medal.
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