West Preston-Lakeside enjoy quiet off-season but determined to complete premiership hat-trick
From the outside, West Preston-Lakeside might look like it’s taken the summer off after back-to-back NFL Division 1 premierships but the Roosters are as hungry as ever to complete their hat-trick.
Local Footy
Don't miss out on the headlines from Local Footy. Followed categories will be added to My News.
It comes as little surprise to see West Preston-Lakeside enjoy a quiet off-season, content after back-to-back NFL Division 1 premierships.
However, Roosters coach Rob Maiorana warned his rivals not to mistake the lack of off-field action for complacency as they chase a rare three-peat.
“The boys have come back in good spirits, refreshed and determined to have another crack at it in 2020,” Maiorana said.
2020: GREENSBOROUGH ON ROAD TO REDEMPTION
LEADER: GET YOUR NORTHERN FOOTY NEWS HERE
DIV 1: MCNIECE’S COUGARS RETURN MUST WAIT
“It’s going to be difficult but anything can happen, as we saw last year.
“We touched on it first night back at training, what we achieved and how proud we were.
“That quickly moved on to what we want to achieve in 2020 … it was quite pleasing to see the group was pretty hungry to have another crack and do the hard work again.”
The two-time reigning premier is yet to announce any major recruits for 2020 but neither has it lost too many key members of its squad.
James Tadd (Epping) and Nick Kempe (Doncaster) are the only members of the 2019 grand final team to depart Moore Park. VFL-aligned midfielder Sam Glover has crossed to North Ballarat.
Northern Blues midfielder Ethan Penrith returns to his junior club after five VFL games last season as well as nine with Fitzroy Stars.
The Roosters will regain 2018 premiership winners Adam Valeri and Carl Adams after the pair returned from overseas travel.
Star big man Mark Kovacevic will also be available after playing just five games in 2019 due to a knee injury.
Maiorana acknowledged several clubs had enjoyed strong recruiting campaigns but believed his team remained a premiership contender.
“We’ve just been trying to stabilise our list, we’re pretty happy with what we’ve got,” he said.
“It’s not going to come easy, I see quite a few of the other teams have been very active recruiting and it’s an even competition.
“Montmorency have been quite active and even Whittlesea, coming up from Division 2 with one AFL recruit (Bailey Rice) and a couple of guys from out of town, are going to be very competitive.”
The Roosters begin their premiership defence at home against Bundoora on April 4.
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.