Bannockburn recruit Reece Conca trains junior squad in effort to promote to senior side

Reece Conca has not trained yet for his Bannockburn, but already the former AFL gun is making an impact at his new club.

GDFL semi finals Senior footy: Bannockburn v Bell post Hill Bannockburn 33 Ayden Osborne tackles Bell post Hill 20 Zane Jones Picture: Mark Wilson

BANNOCKBURN coach Ron Pilgrim says his star recruit Reece Conca is already having an impact on the Tigers’ squad even before he joins in at training.

Former Richmond and Fremantle footballer Conca shocked the GDFL when he signed with the reigning premiers in the off-season, adding more starpower to an already strong side.

Pilgrim said the former 150-game AFL gun, who now works as player development manager at AFL side Melbourne, would join training sessions in the new year, but he was already making an impact off the field.

“He’s going to turn up in the ensuing weeks, Melbourne started training again not long ago so he has been full on with that at the moment,” he said.

“He’s definitely going to show up, he’s taken a training run with the young lads before Christmas which was good, but we’re not expecting him to really show his face until some stage in the next few weeks.

Melbourne training. Former Dogs pair Josh Schache, Lachie Hunter with assistant coach Reece Conca. Picture: David McPherson

“The boys loved it, we targeted a few of the really young kids coming through from the juniors into the seniors for that one, the aim was to get an AFL player teaching them a few things, naturally you’re going to be pretty happy about it.”

Conca’s addition will help Bannockburn’s chase for three premierships in a row, while East Geelong, Inverleigh and Geelong West all among the chasing pack.

But Pilgrim said while the club was in a ‘win now’ mode, the coaching staff was focused on developing the younger talent pushing through the senior ranks.

Leigham Elzinga, James Hose and Ryan Perkins were named in the Geelong Falcons pre-season squad, and Pilgrim said they were all in line for senior selection next season.

Ayden Osbourne played in the GDFL grand final. Picture: Mark Wilson

“We’ve got a few kids training as bottom agers down at the Falcons at the minute, they’ll push for senior selection for us when they’re available to play,” he said.

“But the general improvement of some of our younger guys has been really good, Juanito Ramos, Ayden Osbourne, it’s only their second year of senior footy and they’re impressing.

They’ve been in the gym all summer, they’re looking strong and standing out.

“Josh Kunjka is another one, he played 16 games last season and he’s in line for a really good pre-season, so we’re expecting a really good year out of those guys in particular.

“When you win a flag and you’ve got a good group of kids, you don’t want to recruit anybody, it’d be good to see these guys crack into the side and earn a shot at regular senior football.”

Originally published as Bannockburn recruit Reece Conca trains junior squad in effort to promote to senior side