VAFA club Old Carey sign Marc Lock, Mitch Wooffindin, Danyon Reinbold
A former AFL midfielder and VFL premiership hero are among Old Carey’s big signings as they look to become “a really difficult side to play against” in 2023.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
Old Carey have boosted its young list with three experienced recruits as the club look to bounce back in VAFA’s Premier C competition after fours year with just five wins.
The 69-year-old club, which was relegated last season after one win, have signed former Gold Coast Suns midfielder Marc Lock and recently retired Port Melbourne VFL star Mitch Wooffindin.
Lock returns to the club after a season with EDFL club East Keilor where he played 14 games.
Following his season in the AFL in 2011, the 31-year-old played for Box Hill Hawks where he captained the club and won a premiership in 2013.
Wooffindin arrives at Old Carey after 126 games with Port Melbourne where he won a premiership in 2017.
The 28-year-old famously kicked the final goal of the 2017 VFL grand final to put his side in front against Richmond.
Old Carey have also picked up Danyon Reinbold who played in the club’s senior side in 2019 when they were in A-grade.
The club were promoted to VAFA’s A-grade competition in 2019 after a 16-win home and away season, although, they have since struggled to find a winning formula.
Old Carey’s new coach Aaron Bailey said the recruits were going to be important for their young group.
“I think for us, we are going to be a really young group and being able to bring a couple of guys in their late 20s with VFL and AFL experience is really important for us,” Bailey said.
“They will be a terrific support on the field for the group we have.”
The club are set to have seven players that will be on VFL lists this year with Lachlan Godden, Braden Andrews, Matthew King, Ben and Tom Jepson already confirmed members.
After a challenging period during the Covid years, Bailey said the club were looking to build on becoming a more competitive side in 2023.
“I think as a club our focus is around building something sustainable, certainly we want to return to B-grade and higher levels but the philosophy for us this is about building a really competitive group,” he said.
“So when we do return (to higher grades), we want to have a group that is able go up and be competitive.
“So our focus is getting experience into our list and starting to get some wins and bring some competitive football back to the club consistently.
Bailey, who coached fellow VAFA club St Mary’s Salesian to a grand final in the late 2000s, said the club’s focus was also about building off-field connections.
“It’s also a wholistic thing for us as a club, both on-field and off the field,” he said.
“We have got a very good school-based program that has been successful over 10 years so part of it is really starting to build strong connections with the school, and developing the players we have, to become the next really strong group that can move us up the grades.
“We don’t have a ceiling of what we are aiming for and we don’t go in with huge expectations, other than, we want to be a really difficult side to play against every week.”
The club lost best and fairest winner Jonothan Marsh to EDFL club Keilor and Will Mitchell, the brother of AFL footballer Tom.
Old Carey will take on Old Camberwell Grammarians in round 1 on April 15.
Revealed: Local footy’s best players of 2024
The 2024 local footy season is dawning to a close and to celebrate, we’ve named our best players from the 2024 season. Here’s who made the list.
‘The timing was right’: Superstar returns to Southern league home
Local footy superstar Jackson Sketcher has returned to where his career started. He talks us through his decision and what he hopes to achieve in his new threads.