Football's silly season will be less stressful this year for Eaglehawk coach Travis Matheson.
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Much to his relief, the Borough mentor has re-signed his senior group for 2023.
"We got very proactive once things looked shaky in terms of us making the finals,'' Matheson said.
"We got around the group and got a commitment from everyone to stay around next year, which was really pleasing.
"I think it reflects that the boys know that our best footy is thereabouts if we stick together.
"The previous couple of years we probably battled with that (retention). It means you recruit well, but you don't get any better.
"It's a big relief to tick that box."
With this year's group on board, Matheson has set his sights on bolstering the Borough's depth.
Best and fairest winner Noah Wheeler, Billy Evans, Dillon Williams and young gun Ben Thompson give the Hawks a starting midfield mix that's as potent as any in the competition.
However, this year the Hawks didn't bat as deep through the middle as the top five teams and it showed late in games.
"We would hope that we don't have the run of injuries that we had this year, but at the same time we've got to improve our depth,'' he said.
"It was good this year to get some games into some young guys, but ideally we'd love to bulk up our list across the board.
"Getting some guys into the club that are aspiring to play Bendigo footy would be ideal.
"With everyone from this year hanging around, it means we have a few (player) points up our sleeve to use."
The footy rumour mill runs hot at this time of year.
Matheson poured cold water on speculation that Strathfieldsaye Storm star siblings Shannon and Kallen Geary are a chance to return to their junior club at Canterbury Park.
"That's just a rumour,'' Matheson said.
"If it was true we'd be the first to let you know."
Key position support, particularly forward of centre, is another recruiting goal for the Hawks.
Small forward Liam Marciano won the Hawks' goalkicking award in 2022 with 25 goals.
Key forwards Darcy Richards and Sean Williams booted 21 and 17 goals respectively.
History shows that if you want to be successful in the BFNL you need a key forward that's capable of kicking more than 50 goals in a season or at least have a couple of options that can produce 70-plus goals between them.
Key forward/back-up ruckman Cam McGlashan only played seven games in 2022 after returning from overseas.
He kicked nine goals, showed some promising signs and he will be further improved in 2023 with a full pre-season under his belt.
EAGLEHAWK SEASON LEADERS
RANKING POINTS
- Billy Evans 1766
- Noah Wheeler 1672
- Dillon Williams 1634
- Ben Thompson 1631
- Brady Rowles 1234
- Joel Mullen 1205
- Liam Marciano 1130
- Clayton Holmes 1075
- Kobe Lloyd 1052
- Lewin Davis 1017
DISPOSALS
- Billy Evans 462
- Noah Wheeler 402
- Ben Thompson 402
- Dillon Williams 361
- Brady Rowles 314
- Joel Mullen 274
- Kobe Lloyd 274
- Sam Thompson 268
- Liam Marciano 262
- Lewin Davis 256
MARKS
- Ben Thompson 120
- Brady Rowles 101
- Dillon Williams 92
- Liam Marciano 76
- Noah Wheeler 75
- Billy Evans 72
- Joel Mullen 72
- Jack Thompson 72
- Lewin Davis 69
- Sam Thompson 64
CLEARANCES
- Billy Evans 110
- Noah Wheeler 78
- Dillon Williams 65
- Ben Thompson 58
- Joel Mullen 34
- Lewin Davis 28
- Clayton Holmes 27
- Liam Marciano 26
- Brady Rowles 25
- Jack Lawton 24
HARD BALL GETS
- Billy Evans 84
- Noah Wheeler 57
- Dillon Williams 52
- Ben Thompson 39
- Joel Mullen 27
- Brady Rowles 23
- Lewin Davis 22
- Liam Marciano 21
- Jack Thompson 19
- Kobe Lloyd 18
LOOSE BALL GETS
- Billy Evans 98
- Brady Rowles 95
- Dillon Williams 94
- Lewin Davis 94
- Noah Wheeler 88
- Ben Thompson 79
- Sam Thompson 71
- Liam Marciano 66
- Kobe Lloyd 63
- Joel Mullen 61
TACKLES
- Dillon Williams 107
- Noah Wheeler 91
- Billy Evans 80
- Joel Mullen 78
- Ben Thompson 64
- Brady Rowles 50
- Liam Marciano 44
- Jack Lawton 42
- Lewin Davis 38
- Fraser Verhey 37
SCORE INVOLVEMENTS
- Billy Evans 70
- Noah Wheeler 69
- Ben Thompson 64
- Dillon Williams 64
- Lewin Davis 63
- Liam Marciano 61
- Sam Thompson 50
- Joel Mullen 50
- Kobe Lloyd 44
- Darcy Richards 43
GOALS
- Liam Marciano 25
- Darcy Richards 21
- Lewin Davis 19
- Sean Williams 17
- Ben Thompson 15
- Noah Wheeler 13
- Shaun Knott 10
- Dillon Williams 10
- Samuel Thompson 9
- Cam McGlashan 9
FREES FOR
- Ben Thompson 35
- Noah Wheeler 30
- Joel Mullen 28
- Dillon Williams 28
- Liam Marciano 24
- Billy Evans 22
- Sam Dean 20
- Jack Lawton 19
- Fraser Verhey 19
- Brady Rowles 19
FREES AGAINST
- Noah Wheeler 50
- Sam Thompson 31
- Ben Thompson 30
- Billy Evans 27
- Brady Rowles 27
- Dillon Williams 26
- Darcy Richards 23
- Clayton Holmes 22
- Liam Marciano 22
- Lewin Davis 22
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