Whittlesea confirm full-time signing of former St Kilda midfielder
Whittlesea’s hopes of Division 1 survival got a major shot in the arm with the addition of a former AFL midfielder and 200cm VFL ruckman – both will be full-time at the Eagles in 2020.
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Whittlesea’s return to the Northern Football League’s top flight has received a massive shot in the arm.
The Eagles secured former AFL-listed midfielder Bailey Rice on a full-time contract after the 22-year-old was delisted by St Kilda this year.
After being selected as a father-son pick in 2015, Rice played 11 games for the Saints and will form a potent one-two punch with Division 2 league best-and-fairest Xavier Dimasi.
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Whittlesea coach Blair Harvey revealed a mutual friend put the club in contact with Rice.
“It’s a great get for us, it’s really exciting for the club,” Harvey said.
“Going into Division 1, we thought it was an area that needed another big bodied midfielder. He’s going to be a contested beast in there.
“At 22 – when other clubs are trying to keep guys that are 30 to 35 – we’ve got him in his prime, which is great.”
The return of junior Sam Peet bolsters the club’s key position stocks after the 200cm ruck-forward spent 2019 with VFL outfit Port Melbourne and Western Region league club St Albans.
“Sam played the last two games (of the season) with Port Melbourne … (but) he’ll be full-time with us, which is great,” Harvey said.
“It’s another area we thought we needed to really hone in on, getting a tall who could play forward but also help out Nathan Stefanile in the ruck.”
The Eagles return to Division 1 after just one year in the second tier, winning promotion with a 27-point grand final win over Banyule.
Harvey was confident with the addition of Rice and Peet the club was well placed to avoid yo-yoing back to Division 2.
“Of the 22 that played in the grand final, 21 have recommitted, we’ve only lost one player in Jay Russell,” he said.
“We believe we’ve got a handful of kids who can help fill the void and there’s a couple of boys coming over from Beaconsfield as well.
“Our aim is to survive in Division 1, in previous years the club has gone up and down but with what we’ve recruited we believe we’re in a really strong position to stay up and build from there.”
The Eagles also announced Tyson Buttie and Nick Stevanevic had crossed from Beaconsfield in the AFL Outer East.
Stevanevic is expected to add leadership and clean skills off half-back, while Buttie is a hard-running wingman.