New faces have a crack at Geelong VFL pre-season

A speedster who played 59 AFL games is among a host of new faces having a crack at Geelong’s VFL pre-season, including eight other local names.

Lewis Antonac, Jack Sarcevic and Kye Annand have been training with Geelong’s VFL side.

Former Essendon speedster Brayden Ham is set to pull on the hoops for Geelong’s VFL side next year as a host of local talents test themselves at pre-season training with the Cats.

A Torquay and St Mary’s junior, Ham, 23, played 45 games with the Bombers over the past four seasons but was delisted at the end of the 2022 campaign.

Brayden Ham playing with Essendon. Photo by Michael Klein

The hard-running winger has been joined by a host of BFL and GFL talents, as the Cats reset under new coach Mark Corrigan.

Bell Park pair Jack Sarcevic and Zac Mirkovic has tried their hand, while St Joseph’s small forward Lewis Antonac has impressed.

With 2022 co-captain and former Joey Jackson McLachlan headed to the WAFL, a spot has opened up for a small forward, with Antonac and Geelong Falcon Euriah Hollard early frontrunners.

Lewis Antonac takes the game on for St Joseph's.

“Lewis Antonac has been good from Joeys, with Jacko McLachlan gone there is an opportunity for him to take that sort of role,” Geelong VFL operations manager Aaron Black said.

Tall defensive talents Morgan Fenton (Modewarre) and Kyle Skene (North Shore) have trained well, while Joeys junior Oscar Morrison has crossed over from Port Melbourne.

“(Morrison) is good, he is a big kid,” Black said.

“He ran pretty well in the 2km the other night. He did a good time for his size.”

Geelong West’s Tanner Lewis has also trained with the Cats, while Ocean Grove young gun Kye Annand has also had a run around.

Ocean Grove rising star Kye Annand.

Annand is one of the brightest talents on the Bellarine, having enjoyed a phenomenal debut senior season by winning the BFL rookie of the year, the Grubbers’ best-and-fairest and being named ruck in the BFL team of the year.

Black said a strong contingent of regular VFL contributors from past years such as Ben Lloyd, Ollie Tate, Dan Capiron, Lachie Burn, Jye Chalcraft and Angus Byrne have been among the 55 names having a kick to start pre-season.

The list will be trimmed down in the new year and spots could be competitive in 2023, given the depth of the Geelong AFL list.

“If you look at the AFL and who they have gone and recruited, hopefully it means our VFL team gets a few of them as well,” Black said.

Originally published as New faces have a crack at Geelong VFL pre-season