Aidyn Johnson moves to Tatura in first major signing for club

An emerging Goulburn Valley club has secured a former AFL player in a move that will significantly boost its midfield. Here’s how it happened.

Tatura coach Paul Barnard is confident the addition of ex-AFL player Aidyn Johnson is one of a few new recruits which will help his team improve again next year.

The club has announced the signing of the former Port Adelaide midfielder in its first significant signing for the off-season.

Johnson, who played 11 games for the Power, has recently played for Sturt in the SANFL and in the VFL for Richmond.

Last season he was with Avondale Heights in the Essendon District league.

Barnard said his move came about through Tatura’s best and fairest winner this year, Ethan Penrith.

“He’s actually good friends with (him),” the former Essendon premiership player said.

“It just so happened that Aydin was available, so we negotiated to have him have a kick for Tatura and we’re pleased to have him on board.

“He’s an inside outside mid, he’ll add a bit of depth in the mids with us.”

Last year was Barnard’s first season with the club as Tatura finished eighth and won five games.

Aidyn Johnson is off to Tatura after playing for Avondale Heights in the Essendon District league. He used to play for Port in the AFL. Picture: AAP Image/David Crosling

It was an improvement compared on 2022 which saw the Bulldogs win three games.

Barnard said it was a good performance considering the challenges the club had with no under-18s and managing two squads throughout the year in a strong competition.

The under-18 team will be back next year, looking for their first win since 2021.

“We’re pretty pleased we can put our under-18s back this year in the system,” Barnard said.

“We now have full three teams we can pick from and take a longer view and build some assets over the next three to four years.”

In the short term the team is looking to improve in two areas as the Bulldogs seek a further improvement in 2024.

“Essentially our midfield is going to be bolstered and our forward line will be bolstered,” Barnard said.

“We think our backline is reasonably solid and they did some good work this season, particularly with ball in hand.

“We would hope we can build on that and we will through our midfield and forward structure.

“We’re still chatting to a few boys who are looking for employment and a few other things to get settled and hopefully spend a year with us.”

Barnard said the rebuild may not lead to finals next year but there was still a need for the team to keep building towards it.

“You are always trying to build your list and squad so that’s not going to take 12 months, it’s going to take two to three years,” he said.

“There’s no ceiling on our expectations but as long as we are producing development and building on our year on year results we’re pretty pragmatic about that.

“If we can play the long game there is no ceiling to where we see the boys finishing.”

Originally published as Aidyn Johnson moves to Tatura in first major signing for club