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NEW Eaglehawk coach Travis Matheson has wasted no time in adding to the Borough’s premiership squad of 2018.
Matheson’s first three recruits since being appointed the Hawks’ coach are star midfielder Ryan Gillingham, gun defender Clayton Holmes and athletic big man Richard Tibbett.
Like Matheson, Gillingham joins the Hawks on the back of a decorated career at Kerang that has included playing in seven Central Murray league premiership teams with the Blues.
“Ryan has played all his footy at Kerang, won seven premierships and captained four of them,” Matheson said on Friday.
“He’s a very silky midfield player, wins his own footy and is very damaging on the outside as well. He’s been a regular inter-league player for Central Murray and represented Victoria Country.”
READ MORE – Hawks soar to first premiership in 10 years
As well as being an elite midfielder, Matheson says one of the assets Gillingham will also bring to Canterbury Park is his leadership qualities.
“Once he stepped down from the captaincy last year he was an assistant coach at Kerang and that leadership he brings will match his playing standards as well,’’ said Matheson, whose coaching resume includes leading Kerang to three flags.
Already renowned for boasting one of the best defences in the BFNL, the Hawks have further strengthened it next year with the arrival of Holmes.
Holmes has spent the past two seasons playing with his home club Cohuna in the Central Murray league, while prior to that he had four years with Echuca in the Goulburn Valley league.
Holmes – who has previously done a pre-season with Essendon – joins the Hawks as an assistant coach.
“He doesn’t mind covering a bit of ground, so we’ll play him up high in our backline and he has also been known to hit the scoreboard a bit as well from half-back,” Matheson said.
Holmes played a season of cricket with Bendigo United in the BDCA two years ago where he was renowned for his aggression with both bat and ball. Matheson says Holmes goes about his football in the same manner.
“He played on me a couple of times this year and you certainly know he’s played on you after a game,” Matheson said.
Tibbett returns to Eaglehawk where he previously played before stints in the Loddon Valley league with Marong and in the North Central league with Boort.
“We’ll look to play Tibby in a number of different roles. He obviously has some good height and is very athletic as well and brings good flexibility for us,” Matheson said.
“We don’t want to pigeon-hole him into one specific role, and being a local boy he knows the club and people well and it’s always good to get your one-point players back.”
The Hawks won the BFNL flag last month with a 49-point grand final victory over Strathfieldsaye, with almost the entire premiership team already re-signed for next year.
“My number one priority was keeping that bunch of boys together. You could see from the sidelines how well they get along together and the way they play for each other,” Matheson said.
“It was great to tick that box, and then to get those other boys on board is a fantastic start.”
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