Southern league 2019: Bentleigh gains former AFL player Jed Lamb for six-match stint

Bentleigh coach Peter Pirera is adamant the appearance of former AFL player Jed Lamb will advance his young team. And the club has picked up a package of players from Gippsland.

Bentleigh appraised the pros and cons, and in the end came to a unanimous decision.

It would rather have former AFL player Jed Lamb for six games than none.

The ex-Swan, Giant and Blue will spend the bulk of his 2019 season playing for White Hills in the Heathcote District league.

DINGLEY LOOKS TO BOUNCE BACK

WAFL STAR JOINS PORT COLTS

FIVE IN, FIVE OUT FOR ST PAUL'S

MRP FOR SOUTHERN LEAGUE

BAG OF RECRUITS FOR MORDIALLOC

He’ll also make half-a-dozen appearances for the Demons and train with the club at least one night per week.

Bentleigh coach Peter Pirera is adamant the appearance of Lamb will advance his young team.

He said the committee discussed the issue and the players voted in support of signing the 66-game AFL player.

“He’ll have his six or seven games early in the year and train with us all year,’’ Pirera said.

“We’re not one of those clubs that brings a player in for just a few games, pays out a sh.tload of money and it’s all about him.

“It was about what Jed could give us and what we could do for him. It went both ways. We’re a very young team. We’ve lost a bit of experience from last year and he’s an experienced player and obviously a very good player.

Jed Lamb started his AFL career with the Sydney Swans.

“We did our due diligence right through this process …. a meeting with the committee, a vote from the players … from the top down, we went through everything, and the advantages and benefits so far outweighed the negatives that it was a no-brainer.

“You can write this down … he gets there at 5pm and trains with the Under 19s before he trains with us. How good is that?’’

The Demons were touted as one of the improvers of Division 1 last season, began well, but missed the finals.

Pirera said the team would be more settled this year, but also less experienced given Steve Murray has gone back to Benalla, Chris Johnson has retired, and Brody Lawford and Barama Blow have switched to Clunes.

“We have a youth program at Bentleigh, as opposed to recruiting big names,’’ he said.

“OK, we’ve got Jed for a few games but overall we’ve recruited players who we think will give the club seven, eight, nine years of service.

“That’s been a big focus for us, because whatever we do we need to be able to sustain. We’re trying to be extremely competitive in first division but at the same time maintain sustainability and not get out of our depth in terms of what we commit to.’’

Bentleigh coach Peter Pirera works the huddle.

The additions include Ashley Di Ciero from Warragul, a midfielder and key position option; Joe Colaciello, a speedy and skilled onballer and forward from Gormandale; prolific goalkicker Corbin Sutherland from Yarram; and Jake Anderson, an inside midfielder also from Yarram.

Pirera said the club had spent “an incredible amount of time’’ developing its junior program, bringing the Under 17s into the club even though they were part of the Bentleigh juniors.

He said the Demons had a lot of Under 19s and Under 17s and “we’re hoping in the next couple of years we won’t need to recruit’’.

Pirera is making no bold claims about what Bentleigh can achieve this season.

“If we gel, we’ll be extremely competitive,’’ he said.

“Put it this way, I don’t think we’ll be any worse than last year.

Yarram star Corbin Sutherland has joined Bentleigh.

“We haven’t been too far away in the last few years …. runners-up in 2016, third in 2017 and last year we had players go overseas and that really hurt us. They’ve done full pre-seasons and they’ll be like recruits. When you look at players like (Matthew) Troutbeck and (Mitch) Smart, they’re among the better players in the competition.

“This year we’ve demanded 100 per cent buy-in from everyone, from Jed Lamb all the way down. Otherwise Bentleigh’s pretty much not the club for you.’’

Bentleigh outsourced its strength and conditioning program and the players attended a “boot camp’’.

“We got some serious professionals in and everyone had a whole lot of fun, including the girls,’’ Pirera said.

“It was something a little bit different, rather than running around an oval or along the road to get the miles in the legs. There were so many different elements to it that we’d never done before.’’