Diggers Rest coach Shaun Campbell discusses the Burras’ expectations, preparations

Diggers Rest coach Shaun Campbell has put his players through a pre-season they have likely never experienced, while he’s been impressed with his off-season recruits.

Diggers Rest finished fourth in 2024. Picture: Josh Chadwick

A seamless off-season has Diggers Rest primed for a big season under new coach Shaun Campbell.

The Burras crashed out of the Riddell District finals in straight sets last year, although the last time they did that – in 2019 – they made the grand final the following season.

A strong off-season recruiting campaign has bolstered an already premiership-contending squad.

Mark and Jamie Anderson have arrived from Ovens and Murray power Wangaratta Magpies, while Lochie Jones, Mitch Shields and Daniel Paulete all jump across from Essendon District club East Sunbury.

Jesse Varsamakis and Brandon Lester have signed from Western league outfit Yarraville-Seddon, Nathan Aidonis from Caroline Springs and James Waters returns to footy after time off but before that was at North Footscray.

Campbell was impressed with what he saw from his team in its first practice match against Northern struggler Reservoir, while it will wrap up pre-season preparations with a match against Hillside.

“It’s all running smoothly, we’ve had good commitment,” Campbell said.

“We got a glimpse on the weekend, the two Anderson boys coming down from Wang Magpies.

“They’ve played a good standard of footy and be very welcome with their experience down back, two good ball users out of defence.

“Brandon will slot in at half-back, coming over from Yarraville playing premier footy, and Jesse will play forward, and have both been impressive.

“On top of that they’re all good quality guys.”

Taking the reins from long-time premiership coach Jamie Lobb, Campbell has put his own stamp on the club’s gameplan.

The decorated midfielder arrived from Western club Parkside last season and immediately impressed, earning Team of the Year honours on the half-back flank.

With a background in strength and conditioning, the new coach has also pushed his players to new limits in pre-season training.

“There’s been a lot of running this pre-season, that’s my background strength and condition, high performance,” he said.

“Hopefully we should be fit and be able to run games out.

“They’ve probably not experienced a pre-season quite like this for a little while, I’m not sure you can say they’re the fittest they’ve ever been.

“There’ll be some tweaks with ball movement and structure and some changes in roles as well, so there’s been a lot of education and clear guidelines.

“That’s been club wide, we’ve been doing a lot of drills and training together so if the younger boys get a chance to come up they’ll have a good understanding of what’s going on and the same with the reserves boys.”

While the seniors reached the semi-final, the club’s reserves claimed a third straight premiership.

Campbell hopes that depth will tell in 2025.

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“We’ve got a healthy list and some good depth with the Twos being quite successful over the last three years and we’ve recruited quite well,” he said.

“Expectations are that we make finals, at the absolute minimum and then work the rest out when we get there.”

Diggers kick off the season with a trip to returning Melton South, before clashes with Romsey, semi-final nemesis Macedon and Melton Centrals in the opening month.

The Burras will host Hillside in the final pre-season hitout on Saturday at Diggers Rest Reserve.