PROFILE
After a long and tough pre-season, Murrabit will be hoping fitness is the key to turning around their indifferent 2022 season form.
The Blues were neither here nor there last season – competitive in most games, including against the better sides, but then losing matches they should have won in the process. One key area that needed addressing, according to their coach Mick O’Toole, was their ability to run out games. They won just five last quarters from their sixteen home-and-away matches last season.
“The boys have been training pretty hard and we’re getting plenty of numbers to training – we’re certainly looking a lot better than we were at this point of the season last year,” O’Toole said.
“Ideally our fitness will improve on last year and that will enable us to play a bit quicker game style.”
“Across the board, I think every team in the Golden Rivers will think they’re a chance to win it this year – it looks as though it’s going to be a pretty open season and a really tight competition, so we’re going to need to improve in order to make finals.”
The Blues’ big strength will be their deep midfield, with the likes of Dustin Blake, Marc O’Neill, Nathan O’Toole, Brayden Turvey and Jordan McNeil all set to run through the centre, along with Koondrook-Barham recruits Morgan Randall and Blake Watts.
Also donning the royal blue guernsey this season will be running half back Ryan Manning, who should fill the void left by Brody Green’s departure for Maiden Gully YCW – and former Quambatook forward Cooper Williams. It won’t be just Williams’ arrival that will give Murrabit’s forward line a vastly look to it, with the Blues also losing key forwards Daniel Hovey and Tom Hetherington over the off-season.
With that in mind, O’Toole will be hoping to spread the load up forward to put a winning score on the board – with a few key adjustments to the Blues game style also likely to assist in that area.
“We’ll be looking to move the ball a lot more by hand and move it a lot quicker than we have in previous years,” O’Toole said.
“We’re not going to be an overly tall side like we were last year, so there’ll be a lot more quick ball movement.”
FROM THE COACH
“I’d think we’d like to make the finals and I think we’ve put a squad together that will be more than competitive. I’d be disappointed if we didn’t make the final four and that’s certainly what we’re aiming for.”
KEY PLAYER
Dustin Blake
After arriving at Murrabit mid-season in 2022, Blake had an immediate impact on his new club with both his ball winning ability and class on the outside. Will once again be an important cog in the Blues engine room.
INs & OUTs
INs
Cooper Williams (Quambatook)
Ryan Manning (Koondrook-Barham)
Morgan Randall (Koondrook-Barham)
Blake Watts (Koondrook-Barham)
Zak Hard (Koondrook-Barham)
OUTs
Daniel Hovey (Wyndham Suns)
Darcy Hetherington (Pyramid Hill)
Thomas Hetherington (Pyramid Hill)
Sam Harvey (Maiden Gully YCW)
Brody Green (Maiden Gully YCW)
