THEY have a new coach at the helm, but we’ll still see the same old Northern Saints brand of football in 2019.
The Saints were the highest-scoring team in Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 last season and finished the minor premier, only to bow out in straight sets in a very disappointing finals series.
Brett Kennerley has replaced Paul Dunn in the top job and while the playing list has undergone significant change (see below), the high-scoring, attacking game style the Saints are famous for will remain intact.
“A defensive mindset is a great thing but at the same time, if you don’t kick scores, you don’t win games,” Kennerley told essendondfl.com.au.
“Our forward line this year… yes, it’s young, it’s energetic, but we’ve also got guys that can hit the scoreboard and they’re going to be hard to defend.
“We’re looking to score big in every game and that even takes into account weather conditions, so we’re really going to hit the scoreboard big.
“We want crowds to enjoy their time down here and they won’t if it’s a low-scoring game, so we’re looking to go big this year and I think we’ve got the personnel to do it.”
Kennerley poured over the footage from last year’s finals series and identified a lack of youth as one of the Saints’ major shortcomings.
Many of the Saints’ new recruits have been exposed to football programs at higher levels of both the EDFL and other surrounding leagues and all of them are younger than 30-years-old.
“We just needed some youth and enthusiasm around the group,” Kennerley said.
“The people we recruited are really vibrant, young people who are really keen to get on with their senior footy. It’s easy to be around those sorts of kids and most of the older guys have bought into that really well.
“The kids are just champing at the bit to get an opportunity week in week out, so I would suggest we’ve got a really long way to work out what our best 22 looks like and there will be some disappointed guys but at the same time, there’s competition for spots and there’s a large amount of hunger there.”
Close to a third of the best 22 could be made up of new players come Round 1.
That alone has been enough to leave some doubting whether the Saints can make a third successive finals campaign, but Kennerley has warned those doubters not to take his side lightly.
“We don’t want to put a ceiling on where we can get to but at the same time, we’ve got very high expectations,” he said.
“I look at the list as it is now and people on the outside might want to write us off and say we’re not going that great at the moment, but I think it looks better than what I saw in the videos from last year.
“The list is well-rounded, it’s very deep and there will be guys that will really shock a few.
“If we can put our best 22 out there and avoid injuries then we’re going to have a very strong year, and we want nothing more than to go a lot deeper than we did last year.”
RECRUITING
In: Sam Malual (ruck, Airport West), Ahmed Farah (midfielder, Burnside Heights), Zakaria Farah (forward, Burnside Heights), Jason McCormack (Midfielder, St Albans), Eyob Gabbreselassie (defender, Uhs-Vu Afc), Aaron D’Cruz (defender, St Albans), Mark Sabatino* (midfielder, Roxburgh Park), Jalen Oakley (forward, Kwinana), Josh Rocco (midfielder, West Coburg), Daniel Gennaccaro (midfielder, Pascoe Vale), Matthew D’Angelo (forward, Pascoe Vale) & Tommas Ruberto (midfielder, Westmeadows)
Out: Tom McMillan (West Coburg), Ahmed Abdul-Wahed (Westmeadows), Rocky Ferraro (Moonee Valley), Mohammed Ayache (Westmeadows), Wally Abbouchi (Roxburgh Park) & Troy Clarke (Warburton Millgrove)
*Transfers pending
2019 DRAW
