BFNL 2023 season preview: Strathfieldsaye

A new-look forward line will shape Strathfieldsaye's quest for its fifth BFNL flag in the past 10 years. In the months after last year's grand final loss to Gisborne, the Storm had eight players with senior experience - Kallen Geary, Jack Neylon, Riley Clarke, Fergus Payne, Jye Formosa, Tom Bennett, Jake Hall and Mason Wakefield - depart the club. Largely by chance, rather than planning, they've replaced the departures with some exciting power forward of centre. 200cm Bendigo Pioneers' graduate Jed Brereton and Violet Town century goalkicker Jack Exell signed with the Storm, while the athletic Alex Powell is back for a second stint at Tannery Lane. The ace in the pack for the Storm is the highly-talented Cooper Jones. The former VFL-listed key forward had a shoulder reconstruction in the off-season and could return to the Storm line-up for the second half of the season. That quartet added to Lachlan Sharp and James Schischka, who kicked 102 goals between them last year, gives the Storm an imposing look inside forward 50. Athletic big man Caleb Ernst is also capable of causing havoc in the forward line, although he's likely to have a delayed start to the season because of injury. "Our forward line will take a different shape,'' Storm coach Darryl Wilson said. "Sharpy could spend more time up the ground. We've tried it in the pre-season and it's exciting for us because he's such a good (field) kick. "Cooper won't be right until at least midway through the season, but his plan is to play. "We're not putting any pressure on him. If his shoulder is okay, it's okay, if it's not, then we'll do what's best for Cooper given his history (of shoulder injuries). "He's started to run, he's started to mark, but he hasn't started contested work yet. "We're pretty excited to have him full-time at the club. "Brereton might go back at times, but he'll mainly play forward who can pinch-hit in the ruck. "Carlton VFL are looking to play him as a forward, so it's best for his development if we play him forward. "He's got good hands and he's a nice kick for goal. At that size he'll be hard to match-up on." Matt Harvey and Lachlan Bonney also return to the Storm after stints in Geelong and they'll add depth to the club's strong midfield group. In defence, the Storm recruited experienced half-back Luke Webb - a former Geelong VFL squad member who was also part of premiership success with Geelong Football League club St Joseph's. "Webb we went after because we lost experience in Kal Geary,'' Wilson said. "He's a very good player off half-back, he sets up the play and he's a good leader." The VFL will have a major bearing on the Storm's make-up, with star midfield duo Cal McCarty and Jake Moorhead (Essendon), Bode Stevens (North Melbourne) and Brereton (Carlton) all VFL-aligned. "You're always going to lose some players, and some of them leave a big hole, but it's exciting for our next group and we'll continue to develop our youth,'' Wilson said. "We've got some kids out of the under-18s that have got some potential to push up and there's still plenty of upside in our young players that have had one or two years of senior footy. "We'll still have a fair list. There's going to be some players round one that are going to be pretty disappointed." DISPOSALS Jake Moorhead 683 Callum McCarty 474 Baxter Slater 453 Riley Wilson 389 Lachlan Gill 383 Daniel Clohesy 361 Patrick Blandford 316 Boden Alexander 316 James Schischka 306 Lachlan Ratcliffe 289 MARKS James Schischka 156 Jake Moorhead 129 Lachlan Gill 120 Baxter Slater 114 Patrick Blandford 102 Riley Wilson 102 Joseph Mayes 97 Callum McCarty 92 Lachlan Sharp 89 Thomas Bennett 88 CLEARANCES Jake Moorhead 117 Callum McCarty 100 Daniel Clohesy 69 Boden Alexander 62 Riley Wilson 57 Riley Wilson 55 Baxter Slater 55 Caleb Sheahan 30 Kallen Geary 26 Jack Neylon 25 Caleb Ernst 25 TACKLES Boden Alexander 117 Daniel Clohesy 110 Jake Moorhead 81 Riley Wilson 76 Callum McCarty 72 Baxter Slater 63 Patrick Blandford 58 Mitchell Hallinan 57 Lachlan Gill 55 Jack Neylon 54 GOALS Lachlan Sharp 56 James Schischka 47 Baxter Slater 25 Kallen Geary 20 Lachlan Gill 19 Riley Wilson 17 Riley Clarke 16 Jake Hall 13 Callum McCarty 12 Caleb Ernst 11 Last year: Ninth (4-14). Coach: Steph Freemantle. 2022 best and fairest: Ava Hamilton. Player gains: Claudia Collins, Ella Flavell, Macey Brereton, Remi Phillips, Ashley Evans. Player losses: Eliza Hynes, Keely Jones. Last A-grade premiership: Never won an A-grade premiership. STRATHFIELDSAYE is shaping as one of the teams most likely to threaten the dominance of last season's BFNL top five. Of the five teams, which missed finals last season, the Storm looks to have strengthened their playing list the most. Added to their existing exciting and young talent base, there is plenty of reason to believe that the Storm, under reappointed coach Steph Freemantle, can make a swift and strong rise from last year's ninth position. The Storm have brought in five quality players to the mix, headlined by a familiar face in the versatile Claudia Collins. A member of the Storm's 2015 grand final team against Golden Square and a club best and fairest winner, Collins returns to Strathfieldsaye after a stint with Loddon Valley league club Bridgewater, which she coached to a premiership in 2018. Collins shapes as the ideal replacement for goal shooter Eliza Hynes, who is not playing this season, but will likely alternate between attack and defence as she did with the Mean Machine last season. The goal shooting stocks will be further boosted by the inclusion of Remi Phillips, from Melbourne. Strathfieldsaye has strengthened all three areas of the court, with Macey Brereton, one of the HDFNL's best defenders in 2022, arriving from Leitchville-Gunbower, young midcourter Ella Flavell making the move from rival club South Bendigo, and former Warrnambool and Port Fairy player Ashley Evans joining the Storm after moving to Bendigo for study. Freemantle described the influx of new playing talent as very exciting. "We've worked hard on gelling everyone together. We've had three practice matches now, Colbo, Castlemaine and White Hills. "Castlemaine was real early in the piece for both them and us. It was a good hit-out, but we were still figuring out where people fitted in. The White Hills game, in particular, I was very happy with. "Gisborne first-up is going to give us a really good idea of where we are at, so we are looking forward to that." The Storm's existing talent is led by sisters Caitlyn and Ava Hamilton and Emmie Banfield, while rising defensive star Layla O'Shea will step up from the 17-and-under team at different points of the season. Youngster Ava Hamilton was the club's best and fairest in 2022 following a standout year in the goal circle and will only get better with another year of A-grade netball under her belt. Freemantle hopes a fresh-look Storm can make a huge leap across the board. "With those new players, our other grades should be bolstered as well, so hopefully they'll end up looking better," she said. "We should be much stronger than we were last year. "Seeing what these girls can achieve together will be exciting to watch. "The only way is up. "My goal this year is to make finals. That's where we hope to get to and if we can work things out quickly, I think that's possible." Without wanting to put too much pressure on the youngster, Freemantle indicated goal keeper/goal defence O'Shea would be a player to watch at some point in 2023. "As we had a number of injuries last year, she played up in A-grade quite a bit for us and did a cracking job," she said. "But she's still eligible for under-17s. "We've had a chat with her about using that opportunity to really shine and grow in that age group and still have the chance to come up and play with A-grade as well. "She certainly did not look out of place when she played up in A-grade." The Storm will be chasing their first finals appearance since 2015. They finished sixth in 2016, '17 and '19. ................................. SEASON FIXTURE STRATHFIELDSAYE ROUND 1 - April 15 Gisborne (a) ROUND 2 - April 22 Golden Square (h) ROUND 3 - April 29 Castlemaine (a) ROUND 4 - May 6 Sandhurst (h) ROUND 5 - May 13 Eaglehawk (h) ROUND 6 - May 27 South Bendigo (a) ROUND 7 - June 3 Kangaroo Fla (h) ROUND 8 - June 10 Maryborough (a) ROUND 9 - June 17 Kyneton (h) ROUND 10 - June 24 Gisborne (h) ROUND 11 - July 8 Golden Square (a) ROUND 12 - July 15 Castlemaine (h) ROUND 13 - July 22 Sandhurst (a) ROUND 14 - July 29 Eaglehawk (a) ROUND 15 - August 5 South Bendigo (h) ROUND 16 - August 12 Kangaroo Flat (a) ROUND 17 - August 19 Maryborough (h) ROUND 18 - August 26 Kyneton (a) .................................... South Bendigo Eaglehawk Golden Square Gisborne Maryborough Elmore Colbinabbin Heathcote Huntly Leitchville-Gunbower Lockington-Bamawm United Mount Pleasant North Bendigo White Hills Bears Lagoon-Serpentine Bridgewater Calivil United Inglewood Maiden Gully YCW Marong Mitiamo Newbridge Pyramid Hill Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can access our trusted content: