BEARS LAGOON-SERPENTINE FAST FACTS
PREMIERSHIPS – 12 (1947, 1948, 1949, 1960, 1961, 1965, 1966, 1982, 1983, 1992, 1994, 1995)
PRESIDENT – Chris LewinSENIOR COACH – Justin Laird
2021 LADDER POSITION – 5th
2021 BEST & FAIREST – Darcy Poulter
2021 LEADING GOALKICKER – Jesse Evans (17 goals)
INs & OUTs
INs
Josh Taig (Inglewood)
Rhonen Maher (WA)
Charlie Gadsden (Returning)
Harry Gadsden (Eaglehawk)
Anthony Brown (St Arnaud)
Jacob Szitovski
OUT’S
Nathan Twigg
James Rippingale
Tannar Cerrone
Jesse Evans
Orion Downing
KEY PLAYER
Darcy Poulter – Has the capacity to play either up forward or through the midfield and impact the game in a positive way in either role. The reigning club Best & Fairest will need to reach those same heights again in 2022 to give the Bears a chance of rising up the ladder.
WORD FROM THE COACH
“Our expectations are to play finals – we expect to finish in the top five and play finals and give ourselves a real crack at it.”
PROFILE
Bears Lagoon-Serpentine will be looking for improvement when the new season starts this week, with anything other than a fifth consecutive top five finish likely to be considered a failure.
While recent seasons have shown a level of success, it’s now been 27 years since this proud club last brought home the ultimate prize – which is a stat that new playing coach Justin Laird will be desperate to rectify.
“We won’t shy away from the fact we want to play finals and be winning them – it’s the reason why we all play, after all,” Laird said.
If the Bears are to reach the summit, they will have to do it without ruckman Nathan Twigg, who has departed for North Central Football League club Boort and was runner-up to Harry Whittle in the Harding Medal last season.
“He (Twigg) will leave a big hole for us – I think a number of us boys are going to have to run through the ruck and share the workload,” Laird said.
“I think if a few of us all chip in, we should be right.”
It’s not all bad news for the Bears Lagoon-Serpentine faithful, with the return of both Harry and Charlie Gadsden to the club.
Also heading to the Bears this season is West Australian full-forward Rhonen Maher. The recruitment of Maher will most likely be offset by the club’s departures, with their top three goal kickers from last season in Jesse Evans, James Rippingale and Tannar Cerrone all leaving the club.
Darcy Poulter will once again have a big role to play through the midfield and up forward, while veteran Andrew Gladman will also pull on the boots for another season – with Laird indicating that outside run may just hold the key to his team’s chances of finals success this season.
“I think our speed will be our biggest strength – we’re going to be a pretty quick team and our style of play is probably suited to moving the ball quickly,” Laird said.
