The Bendigo Advertiser's 2024 football previews are here, with HDFNL club Elmore the first cab of the rank.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Previews will be done in a Q&A format with each team's coach this season.
Netball previews will be done separately.
Heading into the Bloods' 150th anniversary year, Bloods coach Mick Woolhouse says expectations have risen at the club that finished with only two wins in 2023, after a strong recruiting campaign and young locals impressing on the track this pre-season.
Q&A:
WHO ARE YOUR NEW RECRUITS?
We've recruited pretty well - both the Harney boys (Joseph and James) have returned to the club, plus a couple of young players from Echuca United in, Kynan Sharpe and Mitch Boyd, who are pretty elite young men.
Also picked up Jake Dick O'Flaherty and his brother Dom along with a full-back in Cobi Fitzpatrick from Charlton.
Banyule boys Nick Mayne and Connor Walsh round out the major signings, but some other guys from Echuca United and Calivil have signed on and will be good depth players.
WHICH OF THOSE GUYS ARE YOU REALLY EXCITED ABOUT?
Jake Dick O'Flaherty is a standout at the minute, but Nick Mayne is looking strong also.
And, of course, James Harney coming back to the club after kicking 100 goals for Echuca United last year is massive and will straighten us up a lot structurally, not to mention his leadership.
Kynan Sharpe has a bit of skill, so I'm pretty excited about all of them.
WHAT'S THE RECRUITING FOCUS BEEN?
There have been two main areas of focus - in the midfield and our key defender stocks.
We've bulked up the midfield and brought in three big backs to fill some holes we had last year.
Cobi Fitzpatrick has a significant role to play along with Joe Harney, and Mitch Boyd was playing centre-half back for Echuca United, so he'll slot in across that half-backline, which will leave us pretty covered in the back six.
WHO'S LEFT?
Zachary and Darcy Laffy have departed for Katunga.
Mitchell Carson has headed off to Finley for family reasons, and Nicholas Kellow has gone to Lancaster, but the rest of the playing group has mostly signed back on.
WHERE WILL YOUR IMPROVEMENT COME FROM IN 2024?
Our speed on the ball will be vastly improved this season, and that's primarily coming from the local kids who've matured into men and have been training since November.
We're currently training 12-13km a session, and those boys are doing it easy, so our fitness to run out games will be much better than last season.
WHAT'S THE STYLE OF FOOTY YOU INTEND TO PLAY?
We'll play a brand of footy that will be exciting to watch.
We want to play fast and put other teams to the sword by trying to make them work as hard as we'll do.
SEASON EXPECTATIONS?
All it is at the minute is to win round one.
But finals is a big carrot with the young team we've got, and that fifth position, or potentially even higher, is where we hope to be at the end of the year.
HOW HAVE NUMBERS BEEN ON THE TRACK?
The numbers have been good but a bit up and down with cricket, as many of our boys play.
We've had a big pre-season since November, and we're getting about 20-30 most of the time, which I'm fairly pleased with.
PRE-SEASON BOLTERS?
Mitch Boyd and Rhys Holmberg have been super impressive.
Nathan Kay has bulked up a lot and has become even more of a weapon than he already was.
Those three boys impressed in the 2km time trials, along with Nick Mayne, who got under seven minutes.
IS THERE A SPECIAL FEELING AROUND THE CLUB BEING THE 150TH YEAR?
It's a massive year for the club.
We've got a few things planned around it, including a dinner, and the boys are having a camp, which we're inviting all the past players out to so they can teach them more about the club's past.
Everyone's pretty excited about how the new jumper will look, so there's a bit of a buzz, which is also down to the new recruits.
ROUND 1 - April 6
v Colbinabbin (a)
ROUND 2 - April 13
v North Bendigo (h)
ROUND 3 - April 20
Bye
ROUND 4 - April 27
v Leitchville-Gunbower (a)
ROUND 5 - May 4
v Heathcote (h)
ROUND 6 - May 11
v White Hills (a)
ROUND 7 - May 18
v Huntly (h)
ROUND 8 - May 25
v Mount Pleasant (a)
ROUND 9 - June 1
v LBU (h)
ROUND 10 - June 15
Bye
ROUND 11 - June 22
v North Bendigo (a)
ROUND 12 - June 29
v Colbinabbin (h)
ROUND 13 - July 6
v Leitchville-Gunbower (h)
ROUND 14 - July 13
v Heathcote (a)
ROUND 15 - July 20
v White Hills (h)
ROUND 16 - July 27
v Huntly (a)
ROUND 17 - August 3
v Mount Pleasant (h)
ROUND 18 - August 10
v LBU (a)
