Roosters fill recruiting needs

NORTH Ballarat has hit paydirt with its early recruiting for 2026, addressing its two biggest needs.

On the heels of former Collingwood VFL captain Sam Glover’s decision to step away from the state league to return to his home club, the BFNL’s Roosters have signed accomplished state league ruckman David Brinker-Ritchie.

A top-up player with VFL club Box Hill during Roosters coach Clint Proctor’s tenure in 2022, the 201cm Brinker-Ritchie is the dominant ruckman North Ballarat has been searching for.

Proctor has nothing but positive memories of the ruckman’s time with Box Hill.

“I had a shortage of rucks when I was coaching Box Hill. Hawthorn had Ben McEvoy, Max Lynch and Ned Reeves, but McEvoy got injured and Lynch had some concussion issues, so that left us without one,” he said.

“I had to do a bit of an emergency deep dive and we found David out at Traralgon, playing in the Gippsland league.

“We brought him across and he played 11 matches for us before going across to the SANFL (in 2023).

“He’s had an injury-interrupted last couple of seasons, but we’re hoping to get him on the park and fit and firing and playing well.”

Brinker-Ritchie will join fellow former Box Hill Hawk Josh Morris at Mars Stadium.

The versatile Morris, who played 15 AFL games with Hawthorn before also making his way to Woodville-West Torrens in 2024, capped a stellar season for the Roosters in 2025 by winning the club’s best and fairest.

Proctor said the signings of Glover and Brinker-Ritchie filled the Roosters’ two biggest needs going into the off-season.

“A ruck was the number one priority, no doubt, but Sammy Glover coming back is a real boost to our forward line. That would be a close number two,” he said.

“You always want a key forward, who can kick some goals, so he’s going to be great.

“We needed a ruck. It was a real issue with Cam (McCallum) being injured and missing a lot of footy.

“It took us a while to find our groove especially in the ruck circumstances.

“David will be great and it certainly doesn’t take away from our young boys who are developing, like Finn Russell. Hopefully, he can play alongside him and get some ascendancy happening.

“Finn did a great job at the end of the year – he’s got great potential.

“I see a lot of David in him actually in the way he’s developing.

“He’s still pretty raw, but he’s got good craft in the ruck; he just needs to establish himself around the ground.”

 

The need for a ruckman only grew last week after McCallum announced his retirement.

With two big signings locked away, Proctor said development of the Roosters’ young and rehabilitating talent would be a focus ahead of 2026.

“Now it’s about identifying kids coming through and homegrown talent and making our list a little healthier,” he said.

“Getting guys like Jarrod Curran and Fletcher Loader full-time on the park will be really important.

“Jamie Quick, for example, didn’t play much last year, so we look at those guys as new recruits this year.

“Adding David and Sam Glover, that puts us in a position where we can play finals and compete.

“I’d like to bring one more player, but I think we have the list and depth to be able to move forward.

“With Sam Glover, he’s moving home, so he’ll be at training every night – he’ll make the place better.”

Glover declared the move back to North Ballarat as a ‘no-brainer’.

“Really excited to be pulling the boots back on with North next year,” he said.

“Can’t wait to get stuck in with the boys over summer and see how far we can go in 2026 and beyond.”

The Roosters finished the 2025 season in seventh spot, just missing a finals spot with a 7-10-1 record.

Eliminated from finals contention in round 18 following a three-point loss to Darley, a good second half of the season was highlighted by wins over grand finalist Sunbury and Ballarat (sixth) and near-misses against Melton (third) and the Devils (premiers).

While they had their chances against Darley, with Morris missing a late 50m shot on goal, Proctor took plenty of heart in the performance with an eye to the future.

“As disappointing as it was, and then missing finals, it was great to play that way,” he said.

“It showed our brand of footy stacks up against the best.

“I think it sets us up really well for next year.”