Greenvale Kangaroos lures gun batter back to take on captaincy

Premier Cricket club Greenvale Kangaroos has lured a gun batsman back to Victoria to take over the captaincy for next season.

Greenvale Kangaroos have lured a gun batsman back to Victoria to skipper the club for 2023-24.

Justin Galeotti will lead the Premier Cricket club next season after four seasons with Clarence in the Cricket Tasmania Premier League.

The former Essendon bat moved to Tasmania in 2019-20, earning Team of the Year honours and finishing eighth in the Rodwell Medal the following season.

He will join fellow former Bombers, coaches Ash Cavigan and Sunny Fernando at Greenvale.

Fernando was looking forward to adding Galeotti’s experience to the Kangaroos squad.

“He’s got great experience, playing at Premier level and VTCA, and a very popular guy,” Fernando said.

Justin Galeotti in action for Clarence. Picture: Nikki Davis-Jones

“We were following him at Clarence and rapt he’s decided to come to Greenvale.”

Galeotti scored 571 runs in a breakout 2020-21 campaign, scoring two centuries and averaging 40.79 to be named opener in the Team of the Year.

He was limited to just four First XI games the next season, scoring 53 runs, and posted 322 runs at 22 this season.

He takes the captaincy reins from Josh Trembearth, who is weighing up his club future.

Fernando takes the coaching job from Damian Shanahan after being an assistant at Fitzroy Doncaster last season.

He said he is looking forward to helping Greenvale turn its fortunes around.

“I’m really looking forward to the challenge. I’m very enthusiastic about it,” Fernando said.

“I’ve picked a lot of challenges, from taking over at Ivanhoe and now, so I’m used to that and confident I can turn the club around.”

Greenvale will hold an information night on June 7 to introduce its new coaching group and outline its future plans.

The Kangaroos have already lost bowlers Sean McNicholl, Darcy Bell and Michael Archer, while several other players are yet to commit for next season.

Fernando hoped players would give the club a chance to outline its plans and jump back on board.

“We’ve talked to them but it’s up to them to decide their lives and cricket lives,” he said.

“We understand it's a huge challenge before us but we’re happy to take it, we’re all ready for it.

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“We’ve spoken to a few players to hopefully bring them over from sub-district and a couple of guys with Premier experience.

“We’re also putting a lot of work into our under-17 or under-18s, that age group, who are looking for a challenge. Gavin (McKay) is working on it.

“There’s an information night on June 7 and we’ll tell all the boys our plan for the future and they can meet all the coaches.”

Nick McGuane was a breakout star after claiming 27 wickets, finishing sixth overall.