Saints to “stay in the now” ahead of 2023

IT HAS been 209 days since St Mary’s Football Club claimed its second-straight premiership flag, and the sixth in the club’s history.

But one of the Saints’ co-coaches says staying present each week is what will facilitate a potential three-peat, the first since South Barwon achieved the feat from 2005-07.

“It’s one of those things you might think about a couple weeks into the season, but we need to stay in the now, it doesn’t really matter what you’ve done in the past, this competition will bring you back down to earth pretty quickly,” co-coach Glenn Keast said.

Retaining most of its midfield, St Mary’s looked to bolster its forward-line in the offseason with the acquisition of key forward Saint Sam Dobson, who returns from Koroit after last he graced Anthony Costa Oval in 2018.

Chris Jansen (Rochester) and Dion Johnstone (Melbourne AFL) will also become Saints in 2023, while Doug Bond and Matt Copley also return to Kardinia Park after injury-ridden 2022 campaigns.

VFL products Brayden Ham and Nick Stevens are also on the playing list but are expected to see minimal time at the Geelong Football League (GFL) level while playing with the Geelong Cats, alongside reigning Mathieson Medallist Harry Benson.

The losses of Josh Jaska and Jack Walters to Anglesea, Tom Zeitz to Geelong Amateur and Brady Pritchard to Ocean Grove has changed up the side’s list considerably, but Keast hopes this year’s group can gel together quickly before taking on a St Joseph’s side tomorrow (April 15) with a win under its belt already.

“Given they’ve already played a game, they are probably a bit more advanced than us at this stage,” Keast said.

“We’ve played five practice games over the past couple months, so I feel like we’ve had enough footy, and we’ve certainly become a lot quicker across the ground in my opinion.

“Our age profile is still pretty young, so in terms of getting a bit bigger and a bit stronger, that should take place naturally.

“We’ve also got a bit more forward firepower compared to last year, so we’ll like to provide a healthy dosage of entries to our new and returning forwards.”

Captain Jack Blood will continue as Saints skipper in 2023, backed up by vice-captain Harry Benson, and Max Augerinos, Jarryd Garner, Nick Nott, Joe Maishman within the leadership group.

St Mary’s host fellow grand finalists Leopold at home in Round 3.