CRAIGIEBURN is coming back to Essendon Ford Division 1 with a side that looks seemingly nothing like the one that went all the way in 2016.
Both Cloke brothers have moved on and star ruckman Jeremy Page left over the summer, while defender Aaron Kite is back at Glenroy and midfielder Josh Young has joined Jacana.
Yet what seems to be overlooked is that 12 players from the 2016 premiership team are still on the Eagles’ list, including that day’s David McWilliam Medallist, Ryan Bongetti.
Most of them got plenty of Premier Division footy under their belts last season and will come back to Division 1 better for the experience.
As for the positional holes that to needed to be filled, Craigieburn got to work quickly after going winless in 2017.
Their end result was more than a dozen new recruits that will play senior footy this year.
“We believe we’ve got a competitive list,” coach Peter Bugden told essendondfl.com.au.
“We’ve boosted our list from last year and there’s competition for spots.”
Dean Limbach comes to DS Aitken Reserve as the Eagles’ prized recruit and will become their new focal point up forward.
Shannon Smith will lead a long list of new midfielders in the middle and they’ll be serviced by new ruckman Jacob McNicol, who played 24 TAC Cup games with the Calder Cannons in 2016-17.
Bugden is therefore bullish about Craigieburn’s potential for success in 2018.
“We hope to play finals football like the other teams in the competition,” he declared.
“We need our big players playing well and if they do play well, we’ll beat anyone, I’ve got no doubt about that.”
Bugden has also been buoyed by the club’s off-field revival and described the acquisition of new footy manager Lance Whitnall as “huge”.
“Lance has been there, done that,” he said.
“He’s been a senior coach in this division, so he has an understanding of some of the teams we play, and he’ll hopefully have a big impact.
“He’s the forward coach as well, so there’s an expectation that if we can get it in there 50 times a game, then we can kick a winning score every week.”
Hillside at home will be the Eagles’ first game back in the division since the 2016 decider.
Key Ins: Dean Limbach (forward, Koondrook Barham), Shannon Smith (midfielder/forward, Lalor), Rick Williams (forward, South Morang), Luke Chapman (midfielder/defender, Kilmore), Adam Bardan (utility, Glenroy), Josh Dall’Est (defender, Wallan), Jesse Martini (forward/midfielder, West Coburg), Josh Marino (midfielder, West Coburg), Ben Gibson (defender, Lalor), Travis Williams (defender, Lalor), Liam Middleton (midfielder, Kilmore), Hayden Phillips (defender, Kilmore), Brandon Austin (midfielder/forward, Kilmore), Jacob McNicol (ruckman, Macedon), Terence Upoko (defender, Lalor), Panayiotis Rubeidis (forward, Roxburgh Park), Josh Laidlaw (defender, Whittlesea) & Taylor Griffin (midfielder, Glenroy)
Keys Outs: Jeremy Page (Whittlesea), Josh Young (Jacana) & Aaron Kite (Glenroy)
First Month: Hillside (home), East Keilor (away), Jacana (home) & Tullamarine (away)
