Coburg Recruits 2012 Signings & Re-SigningsPat Contin:
Pat joins Coburg for the next two seasons after two years on the Richmond rookie list. Pat is familiar with his team mates at Coburg and will have a big impact this coming season. Last year Pat played 12 senior games. His last six rounds in particular were very good where he was named in the best on 3 occasions and averaged 24 disposals. Pat was originally recruited to Richmond from Glenelg in the SANFL.
Daniel Vendetti:
Daniel joins the club from the Perth Demons in the WAFL competition where he played 41 senior games. Daniel has good experience playing at senior level and at the age of 24 will be able to pass on his knowledge to our younger players. He is looking forward to playing in the VFL after his time in Western Australia.
Coburg has again been active in securing young players from the TAC cup competition.
Liam Brandt:
Liam joins Coburg after a successful period at the Northern Knights. He played 14 games with the Knights in 2011. He is the half-brother of former Coburg and now Richmond regular Jake King.
Nicholas Maric:
Nicholas joins Coburg after a very successful year with the Northern Knights. He is a skilful half forward who won the TAC Cup competition goal kicking in 2011. He played 29 games of TAC cup over the last two years for 56 goals.
Paul Sahlberg:
Paul had a successful year at the Calder Cannons in 2011 where he played 20 games. Paul is a highly skilled midfield/forward type who was a regular in the best players with the Cannons.
Ozgur Uysal:
Ozgur joins Coburg after playing the last two years with the Calder Cannons. He played 34 games in total and has also 4 senior VFL games as the 23rd player over the last two years. Ozgur was very unlucky not to be rookie listed after strong performances in the TAC and we are looking forward to him have a big year with Coburg in 2012.
Jordan Iudica:
Jordan also joins the club from the Calder Cannons. He only played 3 games in 2011 due to injury but has already shown he has the potential to play VFL senior footy. He is a very good left foot kick and has been a consistent performer over the pre-season.
Blair Cronin:
Blair joins Coburg after an interrupted 2011 due to injury. He has had a very good junior career winning All Australian honours in 2008. Blair is working to get himself fit for the upcoming season and has showed the potential to be a good player for the club in the future.
Ben Drummond:
Ben also joins the club from the Calder Cannons. He played 14 games in 2010 in his two years at the Cannons and is also putting together a solid pre-season.
Coach Adam Potter had the following to say about his new recruits:
We are very happy to have Patty on board. He had a good impact in 2011 and he is in great shape. Patty is driven and sets great standards with his training and approach to his footy. I am confident he will have a good impact this year. Daniel has shown he is very committed to his footy and has played some senior footy in Perth. We are looking for Daniel to play some senior footy over the coming year.
Of our new young players Liam Brandt and Paul Sahlberg have been impressing on the track. Liam is super competitive and makes good decisions under pressure. Paul is highly skilled and is a quick learner. He has fitted into the group really well. We are pleased with our new crop of young players and are hopeful they can initially play as the 23rd and then step in and play senior footy in their own right.
We will have news on other new recruits in the near future.
We have signed approximately 35 players for 2012. We have been able to keep key senior players in Carnell, Rayson, Clifton, McErlain, Tanner, Cartelli and Jordan. The likes of Wheeler, Masters, Grgic and Murphy have also re committed and will be better after their first year of senior footy.
Potter made the following comments on the pre-season thus far:
We have added Rob Inness as our new head of fitness this year and he has the players very fit and strong. We will again be a very young squad and will be looking to develop young players to step up and play senior footy. We would like to see improvement from our second year players who had an impact at senior level last year.
There is also improvement in our senior contingent of players. Ben Clifton had a very good year through the midfield last year and we want him to take another step, Rayson is looking fit and strong and now has 50 games of experience and a player like Michael Tanner will be better after his first full year of senior footy in 2011.
We have had stability in our coaching group and are looking forward to having a strong alignment with Richmond again in 2012.
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