Mark Galea and Zac Banch impress in Point Cook Centrals debuts

Point Cook Centrals unveiled two of its recruits in a big win over Yarraville Seddon and they went on to make an immediate impact. Here’s what they’ve added according to coach Dean Chambers.

Mark Galea impressed in his debut for Point Cook Centrals.

First impressions don’t come much better than those of Mark Galea and Zac Banch.

In their Point Cook Centrals debuts, the pair played vital roles in a thrilling 16.13 (109) to 16.7 (103) win over Yarraville Seddon.

Banch, VFL listed with Werribee, spent the 2023 season with Shepparton Swans in the Goulburn Valley League.

Galea crossed to Featherbrook Reserve in the summer after a stint with former WFNL powerhouse Deer Park.

They were both named in the best as Galea booted two goals.

“Mark is coming off a serious leg injury, this was his first game back,” Sharks coach Dean Chambers said.

“They’ve both brought real leadership to the group and help driven the standards we’ve set for ourselves.”

In taking home the four points, Chambers said his side had learnt important lessons from its opening round defeat to reigning premier Werribee Districts.

In both games, the Sharks had led at three-quarter-time.

Holding a 17-point lead at the final change on Saturday, Yarraville Seddon kicked early goals in the final term before the Sharks were able to wrestle momentum back.

“We learnt a lot from losing that Werribee game,” Chambers said.

“We went to work on those areas during the bye and you could see those lessons in place when they did start to kick a couple of goals in a row.

“We really rallied and regrouped.”

Mitch Palma, Haidyn Shade and Harrison Minett also produced impressive performances for the Sharks.

Dangerous small forward Daniel Strnak made the most of his opportunities with four goals.

“He had a lot of looks at it,” Chambers said of Strnak.

“We weren’t very big so we based our game on a high pressure brand of footy. We didn’t want the shootout we got but it was important we managed to take our opportunities.

“The footy moved quickly between the arcs really quickly.”

Point Cook Centrals will now turn their attention to a clash with Point Cook on Saturday.