A full buy-in at Ellimatta

A LITANY of recruits, a refined sense of ambition and an eagerness to begin the club’s 50th BFL campaign has Anglesea primed to get off on the right foot in Round 1 against Geelong Amateur.

Anglesea player-coach Jordan Keras said his side is under no illusions it had made any major achievements despite a strong showing against GFL grand finalist Leopold in the club’s first of three practice games, but this humble approach will hopefully start the journey back to the finals after an 8th-placed finish in 2022.

“All in all, that first practice game was really pleasing, the team proved to themselves that there has been a bunch of improvement from last year and I had [Garry] Buddha Hocking reach out to me saying he had a bit of a sleepless night after facing us,” Keras jokingly said.

“It’s a good start to 2023 and hopefully we can build upon that and make it the norm.”

Marquee signings such as former club juniors Josh Jaska and Jack Walters are sure to provide some home-grown positives to the seniors side, as well as the addition of former Barwon Heads product Noah McGregor-Dawson.

Among the Roos’ other acquisitions are Jarod Bacon (Lockington-Bamawam United), Jack Baker (Gisborne), Will Batson (St Mary’s), James Carr (Uni Blues), Fergus Huntington (Collegians), Jack Rice and Harrison Veale.

“One-point players at community coastal clubs are invaluable,” Keras added.

“Playing a fair bit of footy around the Geelong area, I’ve kept close with a lot of our new players from around the area, and I just pitched hard to them that we wanted them at Anglesea.

“I also wanted to recruit several guys under the age of 25, 26, with the intention that they stay at Anglesea for years to come.”

Anglesea for the first time in a while is “spoiled for choice” when it comes to the seniors’ limited spots according to Keras, citing close to 10 reserves players which he feels can comfortably play in the firsts.

“We just want to be a side that is confident and difficult to play against, one that is confident in its ability and hard around the ball,” Keras concluded.

“One of the things that are up on my whiteboard is that I’m comfortable with the talent that we have, but talent only gets you so far.”

Anglesea faced GFL side St Joseph’s in its second practice game on Tuesday (March 14) and will play Essendon Grammar tomorrow (March 18) at Ellimatta Reserve.

The Roos’ season opener is against Geelong Amateur at Queens Park before its home opener a week later against Drysdale on Easter Saturday.