Bentleigh star Matt Troutbeck links with Frankston YCW

Bentleigh is losing a key player to a neighbouring compeititon but coach Peter Pirera says he’ll always be welcome back at Arthur St.

Matthew Troutbeck in the action for Bentleigh.

Bentleigh top-liner Matthew Troutbeck is on the move, his destination the Mornington Peninsula Nepean league.

The Southern league representative and former Richmond VFL player has told the club he will be joining Frankston YCW.

Senior coach Peter Pirera said the Demons were disappointed but accepted Troutbeck’s position.

“Of course there’s disappointment there, because he’s part of the Bentleigh family, and he’ll always be welcome back,’’ he said.

“He’s been around the club for a good while and he just thought it was going to be better for his football and himself to challenge himself a bit.

“He’s a seriously good footballer, there’s no doubt about that, but you can’t get in his way. That’s the way it is. We’re not going to stop that. Like I said, he’s part of the Bentleigh family, we wish him well and we’ll welcome him back.’’

When Troutbeck played his 100th game for the club in 2018, the Demons said he had developed into one of their “most damaging players in recent history’’.

Philosophical: Peter Pirera.

His ability to “turn a game on its head through pure skill and agility has made him a fan-favourite at Arthur St, particularly during finals series’’.

Troutbeck had two years on Richmond’s VFL list after impressing at interleague level.

More positively for the Demons, Pirera said the club had about 60 Under 19 players coming through, would spend time nurturing them and believed five or six could push into the seniors.

“We’ve got enough Under 19s for two teams and they’ve all come up through the Bentleigh juniors together,’’ he said.

“There are a lot of good players in that lot, I can tell you.’’

Bentleigh will go into 2021 with a key signing in former VAFA Old Xaverians star Nick Wynne, and Pirera said there could be other recruits to come.

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