BEULAH’S first home game of the Mallee Football League (MFL) season is tomorrow and it appears likely it will be too strong for Jeparit Rainbow.
Last week’s loss to Walpeup Underbool was a learning experience for the Lakers who had so many new players it was hard for them to develop a cohesive game plan.
In an effort to keep up with the Roos during the course of the game, they switched several players from one end of the ground to the other.
Beulah has recruited well in the off season.
They seem to be endeavouring to add a lot more speed and carry this year to get the ball moving quickly to strong forwards David King and new recruit Dennis Redden.
Redden will play at centre half forward this week and with talented midfielders Micah and Callum Buchanan joining the club, the Blues could be in for another good season with a first up win against Jeparit Rainbow at home.
The Buchanan brothers have a strong footballing pedigree, as they are the brothers of former Sydney and Brisbane Lions player Amon Buchanan.
They will line up in the midfield with Tyler Lehmann who has had an injury free preseason and will be looking to play a full season for the Blues.
Jeparit Rainbow supporters would have liked what they saw in the first half of its game against the Roos last week as the side had eight new players in it.
Coach Luke Werner was pleased with the form of the recruits and although the margin blew out in the second half, the efforts of the younger members of the team and new players was encouraging.
New recruits Chris Meyer and Josh Murphy stood out in the midfield and gave the Lakers lots of drive and all their other recruits showed they will contribute to the team.
Robert McAllister could be in line for promotion to the senior side after returning to Jeparit Rainbow from Warracknabeal and dominating in the reserves.
Regular defender Brett Jensz could also return after being unavailable last week.
The Lakers need to work on delivery into the forward line as too many passes went astray last week.
Nevertheless younger players Adam Schumann, Nathan Cocks and Tom Clugston all showed good signs and the team as a whole will be looking to play the game out better as it faded somewhat against a powerful Walepup Underbool side.
The Beulah oval is in fantastic condition and with new coaches Tom Hallam and Gareth Hose there is a fresh and positive attitude being shown by all players.
The Blues will be expecting a big season and are looking forward to the challenge of the strong 2013 MFL.
For the previews of the other MFL games for round two see Friday’s edition of The Guardian (April 12, 2013).
