Uni Blacks lock in ex-AFL defender Oscar McDonald, Queenslander Finn Raymond
An ex-AFL defender is among a flurry of new recruits which has the University Blacks coach tipping an “interesting” VAFA campaign. Here’s why.
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It’s an exciting time to be a youngster at the University Blacks.
After losing nine players from its B-grade grand final side last year, the Blacks are set to give opportunities to some exciting young footballers in their first season back in the VAFA top flight.
The club has picked up eight young prospects ahead of the season including Queenslander Finn Raymond who was training with Premier B side Fitzroy in January before deciding to move to the Blacks where he will play this season.
The QAFL COLTS Mornington footballer is believed to have run a 2km time trial in six minutes at a Fitzroy pre-season session.
A time better than most AFL players including Nick Daicos who won Collingwood’s time trial last year with a time of six minutes and 32 seconds.
Blacks coach Dale Bower was “impressed” with what he saw of the Raymond at training.
He is set to have a clearance approved from AFL Queensland to University Blacks after initially having a pending clearance to go to Fitzroy.
Notably, the Blacks have also locked in ex-AFL defender Oscar McDonald, who will call the Blacks his home club in 2023.
Blacks coach Dale Bower said the club was “happy” to secure McDonald, a fresh player out of the AFL who played 86 games for Melbourne and Carlton between 2015 and 2022.
Bower hinted that the club may only have the 26-year-old for a limited number of games however due to VFL commitments with Williamstown.
“We’re going to be his home club,” Bower said.
“We don’t expect to see a lot of him. Every game we get of him will be a gift to be honest.”
In discussing the other recruits, Bower was tight lipped on giving away the names before they had begun playing but he said he was excited about their potential.
“There are probably seven or eight guys that a lot of people wouldn’t have heard of,” he said.
“We have been very impressed with a lot of them on the track.
“We know a little bit about them but we don’t know enough about them to go sprouting off too much about what they are going to do, but there is some really good young players there.
“We have recruited a lot of really good young players the last two years.
“A few have been coming from the under 19s that we are really happy with and a few have been playing some really good footy at a young age in the reserves.
“So we are confident that they will come in and have an impact but we also understand that Premier is a pretty bit step up so it is going to be interesting.
“We are confident that we can make a really solid showing in Premier.”
The recruits are set to fill the void left behind by nine departing players from last year’s grand final team including Bede Mahon who was a best on ground winner in the club’s 2014 A-grade premiership win.
Mahon decided to retire after more than 150 games for the club with the 33-year-old set to stay on board to assist the club with recruiting.
The club have also lost former AFL defender Matthew Dea who has gone back to Mildura after being with the Blacks for the past three years.
Long time player and co-captain Jordan Quaile has also departed after moving overseas.
The last time the Blacks were promoted to A-grade in 2013, they made the finals in their return season and won a premiership the following year.
The reserves came along for the ride as well, winning flags in 2012 and 2014 seasons too.
Bower, who was senior coach at Old Scotch and Scoresby before coming to the Blacks in 2020, had different expectations considering his current team looked different to those premiership sides which had more experienced and ex-AFL players.
He said the club was aiming to win more than six games and push for finals this season.
Bower was also excited to meet fellow home ground tenants University Blues in round 2.
“Yep, (I am excited),” he said, about the club’s clash with the Blues on University Oval.
“There is a friendly rivalry there so it will be great to play them on the main.
“We got our first three games at the Uni main so that is a great way to start for us.
“So we are happy with that but our focus for the start of the season is really on round 1 against Old Brighton.”
The Blues have a six game win streak against the Blacks which began in 2015.
The last time the Blacks defeated the Blues was in 2013.
Bower said the Blacks felt prepared heading into the top tier competition following five years in B-grade where a lot of hard work took place.
The Blacks lost two preliminary finals in 2018 and 2019, followed by the past two seasons where they won 26 of 29 matches but weren’t rewarded with any flags due to Covid interruptions and an unprecedented grand final where they were caught out.
The Blacks were established in 1859 and are the third oldest football club in Australia.
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