Southern league: Century goalkicker Darren Sheen joins Springvale Districts
A sharpshooter will follow in his father’s footsteps by wearing the Springvale Districts jumper. And his formidable record in suburban and country ranks suggests he’ll keep backmen busy.
Southern
Don't miss out on the headlines from Southern. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Springvale Districts has added a layer of polish to its forward line by signing Mr Sheen.
That’s Darren Sheen, the prolific goalkicker in suburban and country football.
The 31-year-old has played at a few clubs and kicked lots of goals wherever he has gone.
He booted centuries at Cora Lynn (twice), Heathmont and Maffra (twice), and also had a productive stint at Narre Warren, where he played his junior football.
Sheen popped up in the Southern league in 2018, slotting 43 goals in 12 matches for Doveton Eagles in the second half of the season.
Last year he played at Koo Wee Rup, kicking 47.
Happily for Districts, he recently started work with the club’s major sponsor, Ben Francis’s company Custom Rigging.
“We needed another avenue to goal,’’ Springvale Districts coach Krissy Thompson said of Sheen’s recruitment.
“We were ranked four for scores for last year, and we were ranked one for scores against. Our team defence, and the way we defend the ground, we’re really happy with. But the ability to kick big scores … we thought we had to do something in that area, and we’ve adjusted our game plan to suit. We’ve been working hard on it during the pre-season.’’
MORE SOUTHERN
DOVETON EAGLES ASK OUT OF DIV 1
OAKLEIGH DISTRICT KEEN TO STAY UP
Sheen’s father, Alan, played for Springvale Districts, which will have formidable tall forward targets in Sheehan, 2019 Division 2 league medal winner Matt Wetering and Stefan Feehan, as well as smalls Georgie Angelopoulos, recruit Darcy Warke and Peter Heng.
“The family connection definitely helped us,’’ Thompson said.
“His dad played a heap of footy for the club and Darren was around the club when he was a young kid. He’s got a lot of friends at Springy Districts.’’
Thompson said the Demons were in good order going into 2020. The strong marking Wetering has put on 4kg and David Monaghan, Heng and Matt Soutter had taken their fitness to another level by joining a running club.
“They’ve come back super-fit,’’ Thompson said.
The Demons were runners-up to Doveton Eagles last year.
WHAT A LEADER LOCAL FOOTY SUBSCRIPTION GIVES YOU ACCESS TO
— Match reports, features, player and coach movements and analysis of all the leagues across Melbourne.
— Unprecedented AFL coverage.
— All the latest football news from across the country including Herald Sun, Daily Telegraph and Courier-Mail.
— Latest news and videos from the world’s leading leagues.
— Exclusive digital stories and videos before they go to print.