PROFILE
After three wins in two seasons and two consecutive bottom-of-the-ladder finishes, Ultima will be pinning their hopes on a massive recruiting spree in 2023.
It’s fair to say the Roos have had a very busy off-season, firstly re-signing the majority of their senior playing list, then adding to it – bringing in nine new recruits that should see them immediately rise up the ladder.
Ultima clearly identified midfield depth and a lack of goal kicking forwards as areas of weakness – and have recruited accordingly, adding Swan Hill goal sneak Mitch Makepeace to their list, along with his brother Tyler and the Mallee Eagles Jake Foster to strengthen their midfield.
Ruckman Luke Doolan is another new face at the Roos and will form a formidable one-two combination with Jye Purtill, while Jonty Chaproniere will return to his home club and fill the small forward role.
On the back of their personnel changes, senior coach Kyle Symons was bullish about his club’s chances of having a successful season – especially with a midfield that now possesses both class and a contested ball winning edge.
“Having a few bigger bodies and older heads around the ball will be a big positive for us – especially around the stoppages, where we got beaten up at times last season,” Symons said.
“Our depth through the midfield will be better and our second and third rotations through there will mean we can compete with the better teams as well.”
With a strong backline led by Jamie Nicholas and with both Purtill and Doolan in the ruck, Symons will no doubt spend more time forward alongside Ryan Devereux this season. And while it may take a few weeks for the new look Roos to gel, they’ll be under no apprehension as to what’s expected of them come Round 1.
“We want to be a lot more structured this year and set up defensively behind the footy a bit better and around the stoppages,” Symons said.
“We found with all our young blokes that we were a bit out of position – so if we can structure up a bit better, that will help us defend better as well.”
FROM THE COACH
“We want to be finishing in the top four, that’s for sure. We tried to go and recruit a few more players with a bit more experience, like the Makepeace brothers and Jake Foster, because last year we were very young, and hopefully that puts us back the frame for finals.”
KEY PLAYER
Tyler Makepeace
A change of scenery will hopefully produce a change of fortune for talented midfielder Makepeace, after playing just five games for Swan Hill last season. Will be used predominantly through the midfield, where he can be used to break the game open with his speed.
INs & OUTs
INs
Mitch Makepeace (Swan Hill)
Tyler Makepeace (Swan Hill)
Jack Fletcher (Swan Hill)
Luke Doolan (Mallee Eagles)
Jake Foster (Mallee Eagles)
Bailey Codling (Woorinen)
Zac Cattlin (Woorinen)
Jonty Chaproniere (Southern Saints FC)
Sam Coffey (Swan Hill)
OUTs
Baden Grey (East Geelong)
