PROFILE
After narrowly missing out on the finals last season, the Roo boys are building towards something special in 2023 – and it’s on the back of a very familiar name.
The Neagle name has long been synonymous with Balranald – as it will this year, with reigning Jack Betts Medalist Jydon Neagle taking the reins as the Roos’ sole coach this season. Now his brothers Matthew and Jaxon are joining him at Balranald to completely turn around their home town’s fortunes and qualify for their first finals series since 2010.
While the Neagle brothers will be the main act this season at Greenham Park, they won’t be the only cause for celebration, with the return of Kobe Lloyd and the recruitment of former SANFL midfielder Ethan Gant to the club set to have just as big an impact.
With Connor Soraggi the only departure from last season, there’s no doubt Balranald are really well placed to break their 13-year finals drought this season – with Neagle pointing to his team’s beefed up midfield as to where he feels most games will be won by his team in 2023.
“We’ll be a lot stronger through the midfield than we were last year – we’ll have Matthew (Neagle), Ethan (Gant) and Kobe (Lloyd) as being close to our starting midfield, which is basically a brand new midfield right there,” Neagle said.
“We still have the likes of Tom Salau, Colin Andrews, Ryan Middlebrook, Drew Lloyd and Harrison Soraggi, all these guys that played that role for us last season and did a really good job running through there as well with our rotations.”
“I feel our depth through the middle will be a real advantage for us and will be one that we’ll hopefully be able to exploit.”
“One of the biggest killers in country footy is the retention of players – but we’ve been able to retain pretty much all of our list from last season with the exception of Connor (Soraggi).”
“To keep everyone else and gain four or five new players – and all of them A graders too – is definitely exciting for the club.”
With a whole new starting midfield at their disposal, the Roo’s will also have a lot more quality both in defence and attack – with the likes of Drew Lloyd and Colin Andrews spending more time forward, and Jydon Neagle pushing back to half back, where his run and accurate disposal can be properly utilized.
The one area where Balranald look thin is in their key defensive posts. The third Neagle brother – Jaxon – will hold down center-half-back, which will leave Josh Hodgson, Jarryd Stead and Daniel Bland to play as lock down defenders.
While that may be a slight concern, the best way to alleviate that problem according to Neagle is to maintain possession of the ball yourself – something the Roo’s have been diligently working on over a long pre-season.
“I think we’ll play in a similar way to last year, but our efficiency with the ball is something we’ve worked on a lot,” Neagle said.
“It’s not overly complicated stuff, just simple things like a missed handball or a missed kick which should be hit, especially at senior level, and just gives the ball back to the opposition unnecessarily.”
“If we can tidy that stuff up and clean up fifty per cent of our turnovers from last year, then hopefully we can convert that into scores and hit the scoreboard.”
“The best teams very rarely give it back to you when they have the ball, so we really don’t want to be giving it back to them when it’s our turn with it either.”
FROM THE COACH
“We think we were a bit stiff to miss out on finals last year, we let a couple of games slip that we shouldn’t have. I’d like to think we’ll be pretty competitive and with the team we’ve assembled win those games we’re meant to and finish in the top five.”
INs & OUTs
INs
Kobe Lloyd (Eaglehawk)
Ethan Gant (Central Districts)
Matt Neagle (Central Districts)
Jaxon Neagle (Central Districts)
Jack Jones (Moulamein)
OUTs
Connor Soraggi
Jordan Weekly
WHAT TO EXPECT IN 2023
With the squad they’ve assembled this season, anything less than a finals appearance for Balranald and they’ve underachieved. The Roos finished just one win away from a top five spot in 2022 and if it wasn’t for their slow start to the season, they arguably would have made it. The one difference this year will be their fixture, which will be a lot tougher this time around. Double up games against four of last year’s finalists (Kerang, Woorinen, Lake Boga and Tyntynder) will be a challenge, but not insurmountable – especially with eight games at home, where they are always a three-goal better team. The biggest challenge will be keeping their best side on the park and injury-free, with depth likely to be a problem outside of their best 22.
KEY PLAYER
Ben Fuller
While Jydon Neagle is hard to go past as the Roos’ best player, he’s not their most important. That honour belongs to key forward Ben Fuller, who at times played a lone hand in attack, booting 69 goals in 2022. It’s no coincidence that Balranald lost their first three games last season while Fuller recovered from a hamstring strain – yet won 8 of their next 13 upon his return. If they are to be any chance of going all the way – or even playing finals – Balranald must keep the big man fully fit and on the park.
BIG IMPROVER
Seth Connell
Started forward last year, but finished the year as one of the Roos on-ball rotations such was his improvement. Has a good leap, is a good mark and after putting in a big pre-season and improving his endurance, is expected to get another spot as part of Balranald’s midfield rotations from the start.
THE BURNING QUESTION
Will the return of the Neagle brothers signal a new era of dominance at Balranald?
Seventeen years after their famous father Merv led the Roos to the 2006 premiership, the Neagle brothers will be out to create their own slice of history for their adopted home town. Having already witnessed the capabilities of Jydon last season, the Balranald faithful should be salivating at the prospect of two more quality footballers joining their ranks – and the potential upturn in competitiveness they will bring. While the Roos may still find themselves behind competition yardsticks Cohuna, Kerang and Woorinen, they are definitely building towards something special. Where it takes them, is anyone’s guess.
BALRANALD PREDICTED BEST 22
B. Josh Hodgson – Jarryd Stead – Daniel Bland
HB. Jydon Neagle – Jaxon Neagle – Ryan Middlebrook
C. Seth Connell – Ethan Gant – Tom Salau
HF. Harrison Soraggi – Drew Lloyd – Jack Salau
F. Colin Andrews – Ben Fuller – Braeden Price
R. Jordan Wilkins – Matt Neagle – Kobe LloydINT. Ned Lay – Jake Lockhart – Jack Jones – Yodok Soille
