A baptism of fire and another chapter to a classic rivalry are just some of the things to expect in this weekend’s four Melbourne Greyhounds Division 1 clash.
The lone Good Friday clash in the competition saw Greensborough run away with a 29-point victory over Macleod at De Winton Park.
Heidelberg begins their Division 1 premiership defence with a trip to North Heidelberg to face the Bulldogs at Shelley Street Reserve.
The Tigers come into this year’s campaign with a new coach in Vin Dattoli but not too many new names from their premiership-winning side, not that it was necessary. Club leading goalkicker Josh Minogue has left the club but they do welcome back 2021 best and fairest winner Tom Sullivan after a year away from Warringal Park.
The Tigers were the highest-scoring team, conceded the least amount of points against and had the biggest average winning margin of any side last year, which suggests that they should comfortably take the premiership favouritism status in the early stages of the season.
However, the Tigers did have some close battles with their Saturday opponents throughout 2022, their last game saw Heidelberg hold onto a four-point win while the Tigers only led by a point in their Round 5 match last year before claiming a 22-point victory.
The Bulldogs will hope to shake the 2022 mantle of falling short in close games this time around and with full seasons expected from Majak Daw, Brent Harvey and Liam Hunt, Jason Heatley’s men are in the mix to return to finals football in the top flight.
Jesse Tardio will be pivotal again in the midfield while the return of Curtis Brown and Michael Florance to the club as well as the recruitment of Zane Anderson and Brody Bell will be sure to offset the departures of Brandon Bailey, Jack Mapleson and Adam Braendler.
Hurstbridge and West Preston-Lakeside will both unveil new coaches in their battle at Ben Frilay Oval this Saturday.
A strong finish to the 2022 season had the Bridges optimistic in the off-season, especially with the arrival of new mentor Joel Cordwell as the new senior coach following a stint with Carlton’s VFL side.
But they have had to deal with the losses of some experienced leaders at the club including captain and reigning best and fairest winner Lachlan East, VFL-listed Sunny Brazier and ruckman Michael Florance.
They did recruit plenty of names to make up for these departures with Jake Richards, Jake and Mitch Wild as well as Chris McCabe all coming into the side and with promising forward Joel Naylor ready to back up his 45-goal year of 2022, Hurstbridge could surprise a few this year.
For West Preston-Lakeside, this will be the first time since 2018 that they won’t enter the season as the reigning premiers following a semi-final exit last year, and with two-time premiership mentor Rob Maiorana not coaching in 2023, the Roosters are set for a new era.
Luke Giles takes charge of the side without multiple premiership players but they have still been able to add some VFL talent to the squad, headlined by the return of two-time flag winner Garret McDonagh who comes back after spending time on Essendon’s AFL list.
Chris Ryall will also be a huge addition to West Preston-Lakeside’s midfield and will compliment reigning Frank Rosbrook Medallist Matthew Harman as well as Michael Ercolano and Alex Federico.
Also introducing us to two new senior coaches in the top flight ahead of their opening round clash will be Montmorency and Whittlesea.
The Magpies fell short of a first Grand Final appearance in 10 years after defeating Bundoora in last year’s preliminary final and although Jesse Donaldson and Lin Jong will be difficult to replace, they have had one of the best recruiting sprees in the off-season.
Jake Spencer comes in to create a formidable ruck duo with Liam Wale-Buxton while Ben Paterson and Corey Sleep cross the road from Lower Plenty and should have an immediate impact. They’ve also acquired Liam McMahon off Collingwood’s AFL list.
Montmorency face three consecutive top-five sides from 2022 following Saturday’s match with Whittlesea, meaning nothing less than a victory is crucial to get Jonathan Manzoney’s senior coaching career at the club off to the right start. In this fixture last year, the Magpies dismantled the Eagles, kicking 32 goals and producing a 157-point victory.
A lot has changed since then for Whittlesea and with Wayne van der Ross in the top job, the Eagles will be eyeing survival in 2023. Quite a few key players left the club throughout the transfer period but with skipper Xavier Dimasi still playing his best football, he’ll be tasked to help get the best out of a young squad.
Mitchell Andrews and Paul Higgins will be the ones to look out for following impressive 2022 seasons meanwhile leading goalkicker and sole Team of the Year member Jaron Murphy has proven he can produce some outstanding individual performances to help keep the Eagles competitive.
Banyule will face one of their biggest tests in their first foray into Division 1 as they take on Bundoora at Yulong Reserve.
The Bears thoroughly deserved their Division 1 promotion after a brilliant finals series last year, culminating in their second premiership in just their sixth completed season. They’ve also recruited well as a result with Collingwood VFL players Vivian Blackmore-Moore and Jack Raines arriving at the club as well as the likes of Kurt Aylett, Alex Bellchambers, Thomas Hallebone and Jack Sammartino.
The biggest hole Paul Harris will have to fill will be the loss of Grand Final best-on-ground medal winner Tim Martin after he departed to join Romsey. But otherwise, the club are in good shape to fight out a testing Division 1 competition.
They’ll face a side that not only was 15 points away from a fourth premiership in 11 years but has also acquired some top-end talent to go one step better in 2023.
Their depth has been hit a bit with many of their 2022 reserves premiership players departing the club, but with Lachlan East, Jedd Longmire, Peter McEvoy, Shaun McKernan, Ben McNiece and Kyle Wheatley just some of the names added to Michael Ryan’s disposal, it’s hard not to get excited about the Bulls this year.
Those names are on top of stars such as Sam Lloyd, Luke Collins, John Jorgensen and Hamish Shepheard. Bundoora don’t play a top-five side from last year until Round 4, meaning some strong wins early could send a message to the rest of the competition
