NewsBite

Springvale Districts add two key recruits to 2018 premiership team

SPRINGVALE Districts coach Kris Thompson has added two key position players to his 2018 premiership team.

St Paul's SFL premiership 2018

ALMOST as soon as he finished celebrating his club’s premiership success, Springvale Districts coach Kris Thompson turned his mind to 2019 and the prospect of playing in a higher division.

And one week after the Demons’ grand final victory over Endeavour Hills he was extending a welcoming handshake to two key recruits.

SOUTHERN NEWS

VFL VICE-CAPTAIN JOINS ROSELLAS

LINDSAY GILBEE TO COACH PORT COLTS

DOLPHINS MAKE A SPLASH IN FIRST YEAR

CHRIS BRYAN'S CLASSIC HIGH MARK

The Districts have secured forward Matt Wetering from Parkvdale Vultures and defender Brody Ledder from St Kevin’s.

Kris Thompson shares a moment with Georgie Angelopoulos after the second semi-final.
Kris Thompson shares a moment with Georgie Angelopoulos after the second semi-final.

Wetering kicked 37 goals from 18 matches at Under 19 level for the Vultures this year.

He also played one senior game to go with the six he logged last year.

Ledder, a 188cm defender, played 21 TAC Cup games for Oakleigh Chargers in 2013-2014 and won Oakleigh Districts’ Under 19 best and fairest in 2015 while also finishing fourth in the league’s Sparrow Medal.

Thompson said Wetering and Ledder were young and talented and would significantly strengthen the side.

“We want to score more heavily — we identified we needed another key target down there — so we’ve recruited Matt and he’s 193cm and 105kg,’’ Thompson said.

“At the other end we’ve brought in Brody Ledder, an aerial defender.

“So we’ve got two talls, one down forward, one down back.

“We think our midfield is good enough to go with the other midfields we’ll come up against.’’

Springy Districts recruit Matt Wetering.
Springy Districts recruit Matt Wetering.

He said the club had re-signed every senior player and would also have Cory Hutchinson returning from injury.

The Demons won six games in Division 2 in 2017 but were relegated to Division 3 this year.

Their response was emphatic, finishing on top of the ladder and winning their first premiership since 2007.

“We’ve played a lot of Divvy 2 football and we’ve played some good Divvy 2 football, and we know we are a lot better side than when we were last there,’’ Thompson said.

“We have all the players we had when we were last there and we’ve added in some real quality.

“We expect to cause some damage but how far we can go, who knows.’’

Crowning his season, Thompson, a former assistant at VFL club Frankston, was named the Inner South region coach of the year.

Other awards went to Districts at Southern’s end-of-season presentation.

* Sam Raru was runner-up in the Division 3 senior best and fairest.

* Former Sandringham Dragon Jacob Bakes was the Leader Shooting Star.

* Stefan Feehan won the Division 3 senior goalkicking with 49 goals.

* Robert Legga Frost was third in the Under 19 league medal.

* Tyson Sparkes was second in the Division 3 reserves best and fairest.

* Talisa Vaughan was runner-up in the Division 9 netball and Keana Tour was third.

Original URL: https://www.heraldsun.com.au/leader/localfooty/springvale-districts-add-two-key-recruits-to-2018-premiership-team/news-story/829ad8fbbd73fec2270318fe8ecd8039