SANDHURST coach Andrew Collins is reuniting with his former Richmond team-mate Daniel Connors.
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Connors is the latest addition to what has been an active recruiting campaign by the Dragons as they aim to improve on this year’s fourth-place finish.
Connors, 29, has been working in the mines at Kalgoorlie this year and played nine games for Kambalda, kicking 10 goals.
“It’s very exciting to have Daniel on board with us. Genuine match-winners are few and far between and that’s what I believe Daniel is,” Collins said on Friday.
“He’s now a very experienced player and I think he will fit in with our younger group very well.”
Originally from Echuca and a former Bendigo Pioneer, Connors was drafted by Richmond with selection 58 in the 2006 AFL Draft.
He spent 2007 to 2012 at the Tigers – four of those seasons with Collins – playing 29 games and kicking 11 goals.
He was the joint winner of the VFL’s Frosty Miller Medal as the leading goalkicker in 2014, before joining Collins at Bridgewater in 2015 and playing in the Mean Machine’s Loddon Valley league premiership where he was one of the best in the grand final win over Mitiamo.
“He’s the type of player who can play anywhere. He spent a lot of the year at Bridgewater playing forward and we then moved him into the midfield in the finals and he was dominant, so he will bring great versatility to the side,” Collins said.
Connors is the fifth player to have been part of a Bridgewater premiership in recent years to have signed with the Dragons.
Sandhurst’s 2018 recruits also include fellow Bridgewater premiership players Zeb Broadbent, Taylor Strachan, Marc Lindsay and Callum Prest.
Other recruits for the Dragons include 2015 Benalla premiership defender Jake Pallpratt, plus Jake Wilkinson, Martin Leyden and John Harvey, who have all previously played with the club.
Sandhurst begins its 2018 season on Saturday, April 14, against arch-rival Golden Square at the QEO.
The Bulldogs ended Sandhurst’s season this year with a four-point victory in the first semi-final.
“They are our arch enemy and the side that put us out of the finals this year, so it’s going to be a great way to start for us coming up against Square first-up,” Collins said.
“Square is always a good side and hard to beat, so it will be a good test for us.”
