HDFNL 2024 season football preview: LEITCHVILLE-GUNBOWER

Hard-working Leitchville-Gunbower ruckman Jobee Warde. Picture by Darren Howe

HAVING claimed the 2022 wooden spoon and then lost its first four games last year, Leitchville-Gunbower launched an extraordinary mid-season revival to catapult into the HDFNL finals series.

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The Bombers bowed out in the elimination final to eventual premier Mount Pleasant, but given the rapid improvement made under new coach Shannon Keam certainly shape as a team with an exciting upside to it this year.

Q & A WITH COACH SHANNON KEAM

How has the club recruited during the off-season?

"We've predominantly got local blokes returning to the club.

"We've been blessed a bit where we've got some guys coming back on to the family farm in Charlie Hancock and Will Brereton.

"They are both utility players who have been training well.

"Blake Dye is a local lad who has returned and is going to play in our forward line.

"Brady Hore is back at the club after returning from Strathfieldsaye. We're still up in the air about where we will play Brady, but he is the type of player we can utilise through the middle, off half-back, the wing or half-forward.

Shannon Keam is entering his second season as coach of Leitchville-Gunbower.

"He has trained in all positions over the summer, but we haven't cemented any specific role as yet for him, but overall we've been fortunate with getting some of our local contingent back.

"We've also got Max Hagan and Kyle Green who have come out from the Echuca under-18s. They have both been training well and will put their hand up for senior selection.

"Brad Green is another new player we've got through a connection with the Hislop brothers and Fraser Buchanan, who is a small forward type and could also run through the midfield if required, from Moama is on board with us as well."

Have you lost many players from last year?

"We've been really good in terms of our retention of players.

"At this stage it's only Zac Hislop who is an out due to an Achilles injury."

What areas have you honed in on in terms of your recruiting focus?

"First and foremost we were just after retention and to build on what we did last year and have some increased depth.

"To be honest, I don't think I've had to make a recruiting phone call in the new year. We rapt it up fairly early and went more for the sustainability of having a core local group."

What is the brand of football we can expect to see from the Bombers this year?

"We took a while to find our feet last year in regards to how we wanted to play; we know we can play that up-tempo style of footy, which suits our smaller running guys.

"We've also been working on a few different ways that we can play in terms of having a Plan A, B and C, but we probably feel that high-tempo style of footy that most teams like to play these days is probably going to be our brand."

Leitchville-Gunbower 2023 season snapshot.

To say your side took a huge leap last year is an understatement in going from a wooden spoon to finals in 12 months. Where to this year for the group in terms of taking another step forward?

"You can definitely tell the difference during the pre-season from this year to last year in terms of what's required and with a bit more maturity in the group.

"On top of that, having a lot more depth in our group and with competition for spots, it's really starting to sink in now that we're getting into practice matches that we're realistically probably going to have a good 32 players to choose from in terms of our senior side and 32 doesn't go into 22."

What's your expectation of what the group can achieve this year?

"We've still got a fair bit of growth from within. We're trying to be sustainable in terms of having guys who will play with the club for years to come, but as for their internal growth, there is still quite a bit there in regards to individuals.

"From a team perspective, we probably exceeded expectations a bit last year, but we need to continue to grow and aim to play finals."

Leitchville-Gunbower's Hoby Bussey. Picture by Darren Howe

Speaking of finals, you got a taste of it last year against Mount Pleasant. How much has that experience driven the group during the pre-season?

"I think last year showed that all the processes you go through to get to that point of playing finals weren't for nothing.

"We worked very hard during the pre-season and the course of last year, so to see the benefit of it in terms of playing finals and knowing what's required to play finals was a positive.

"The boys realise the standard they need to get to to play finals footy now and, hopefully, we can take another couple of steps forward again."