The return of Harmit Singh to Castlemaine’s playing group will be invaluable for the Magpies’ young list, according to club coach Derrick Filo.
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Singh, who played with Castlemaine in 2011 and 2012, will play five games for the Magpies in 2017, including the round one clash with Maryborough on Good Friday.
The remaining games will be floated between his coaching commitment with Vermont in the Eastern Football League and his assistant coaching duties with Collingwood’s AFLW team.
“Harmit has been actively involved behind the scenes with Castlemaine for a few years now,’’ Filo said.
“He’s helped with fundraising and junior programs… he’s always kept a toe in the water with the club.
“We’re going to be a very young team at times this year, so to get someone with Harmit’s experience in for five or six games is going to be invaluable.
“We’re very keen to play our young players this year, but we also want to make sure we’re not throwing lambs to the wolves so to speak.
“Putting some experience around them where we can is vital. Harmit has had so much experience at country level and VFL level… he’s going to be a great on-field leader for us.”
Singh, Michelsen Medal winner Wayne Schultz and highly-rated midfielder Simon Seddon headline the Magpies’ inclusions.
“We’re still looking to add a couple more players in the next few weeks,’’ Filo said.
“We’ve got to keep the balance right. We’re committed to giving younger players games, but at the same time we don’t want to give these players a senior game on a silver platter.
“We want competition for spots and some experienced mixed in. Overall, we think in round one we’ll have 15 to 17 players in our senior side that have come through Castlemaine juniors. We’re pretty happy with that.”
On face value the departure of key forwards Rhys Ford and Tallan Wright has left a hole inside forward 50.
Filo disagrees.
“We’re happy with our forward line,’’ Filo said.
“You only have to look at Sandhurst last year… they got a lot of goals out of their midfield and smaller players. Sandhurst didn’t have a Matt Gretgrix and Kain Robins, Grant Weeks and James Bristow or Steven Reaper and Luke Saunders combination.
“Don’t get me wrong, we’re not at the same level as Sandhurst, but you don’t need that (traditional) forward structure to kick goals.
“We’re happy with our list, we just need a touch more polish through the midfield.”
