New Lara players to get every chance to play in round one of GFL season

LARA co-coach Shayne Stone says his side’s newest recruits will get “every chance to play” senior football in 2023 after a busy off-season.

Connor Thar has signed with Lara Cats ahead of the 2023 GFL season. Picture: Contributed

LARA co-coach Shayne Stone says his side’s newest recruits will get “every chance to play” senior football in 2023 after a busy off-season.

The Cats picked up brothers Mitch and Connor Thar, along with utility Will McKenzie in December, with the trio of signings offering a different skill set that excites Stone.

“They’re all definitely part of the senior squad, and they’re all a part of what we’re trying to do,” he said.

“The handy thing is they all bring something a little different to the team, the midfield was probably an area we tried to boost more than others coming in, and hopefully Dev (Devon Smith) can help develop some of those guys.

Will McKenzie has signed with Lara Cats ahead of the 2023 GFL season. Picture: Contributed

“Will’s ability to play back and forward makes him more attractive as a player, but at the moment we’re needing some guys who can go into defence.

“We’ve got a lot of young blokes who had good years last year, so we feel we have some options forward but being able to throw him down there to take some pressure off Mitch (Day) would be great as well.

“He’s an elite user of the ball so we’re going to try to get it in his hands coming out of the backline whenever we can.”

The inclusion of the Thar brothers will add significant depth to a midfield group that was led by young gun Connor Linehan-Cunningham, with Connor spending time with Werribee in the VFL.

Stone said the pair will likely play right away.

Mitch Thar has signed with Lara Cats ahead of the 2023 GFL season. Picture: Contributed

“Connor is VFL quality and Mitch can easily fit into our depth as a mature aged body, so I think they’re all going to be senior footballers for us,” he said.

“Mitch has that bigger body and is elite at winning the ball in the contest, so hopefully he can learn a bit off Dev about that and add a bit of grunt there for us.”

Originally published as New Lara players to get every chance to play in round one of GFL season