Sport
Experience added from all angles as Goulburn Valley League signings continue, while a familiar face is Picola-bound
Mansfield seeks a return to the Goulburn Valley League’s top six in 2025 and the side co-coached by Jack Hutchins and Mitch Wareham has brought a pair of highly experienced names back home for the job.
The Eagles first unveiled Will Foster, a past player who ventured out to the Ovens and King competition to win the 2023 flag at Bonnie Doon.
He proved capable of great things during his first stint in the blue and gold after ascending the junior ranks in the high country, and club president Bo Christopher was happy to welcome him back into the fold.
“Will was an outstanding junior with us,” Christopher said.
“He went down to win that premiership in the Ovens and King, but he wants to come back and test himself in a major league again.
“We’re so glad he’s come home because, at his best when fit, he’s one of the better small forwards in the comp.”
Matt King was the other name confirmed to put pen to paper for the Eagles on a full-time basis after splitting his year with the VFL’s Northern Bullants.
With that experience under his belt Christopher is bullish about the key defender’s effect on a youthful core emerging at the Eagles.
“Matt played the last home game for us against Euroa and his professionalism is going to be amazing for our young group,” Christopher said.
“Families like mine and the Mahoneys have holidayed with his for 20 years; we’re very lucky with the locality in Mansfield.
“Matt’s a quality player, but more importantly he’s a quality person. It’s going to be great for our youngsters.
“We feel like we’ve strengthened off-field to complement our on-field stuff.
“The club’s up and about with guys like Sam Thomson getting through the last five weeks of pre-season training to be like a brand-new recruit on the ball with Cal Brown.”
Rochester last week confirmed the acquisition of Cooper Hamilton, who arrives in the Goulburn Valley League following three years in the AFL system.
Hamilton was selected as a rookie by Greater Western Sydney during the 2021 AFL draft period, carving his own niche as a star of the Giants’ social media presence.
The Colbinabbin native went on to play eight games in the orange and charcoal at senior level — four through his debut season in 2022 and another four in 2023.
Hamilton couldn’t add to his tally before the club delisted him, causing disappointment among ardent fans of his online content.
It’s a big get for a side which would be carrying hopes of replicating — perhaps exceeding — its preliminary final berth where Ash Watson’s side fell to Shepparton.
Out east, Benalla has made a fair old splash of its own as it seeks improvement in 2025 with a signing landing out of the South Australian league system.
Ethan Maney is the newest acquisition to don the Saints jumper, currently with Southern Districts in the NTFL in between stints at Mid South Eastern Football League outfit Kalangadoo.
A former Glenelg junior, Maney arrives off the back of two Kalangadoo premiership wins.
In the Picola District competition, a favourite son has returned to call Tigerland home as former Port Adelaide stalwart Tom Clurey commits to Katamatite for 2025.
Having suited up for Invergordon in the Cricket Shepparton ranks in recent weeks the 30-year-old Murray Bushrangers junior arrives after 124 AFL games across 12 seasons.