Pressure off Walter as recruits boost Bears’ chances
NEW and old faces will have an impact for Marshall next summer as the load is eased on star batsman Corey Walter.
Walter will split coaching duties with Stan Grazotis in a move designed to give the experienced campaigner more time to work individually with the younger Bears.
And a family connection helped Marshall land former Ocean Grove off-spinner Tom Beasley.
Beasley played with Prahran in Premier Cricket last season and was last seen locally playing in a premiership with Ocean Grove in 2018-19.
He took 38 wickets that season, including back-to-back six-wicket hauls in the finals.
Walter said the GCA2 club was still talking with potential recruits and had added Taylor Cameron from Newcomb.
“Tom is obviously a very handy recruit for us, he’s my first cousin, so I tried to get on to him last year but he decided to go up to Melbourne and have a crack at Premier Cricket,” Walter said.
“Taylor will add good depth to our turf squad, which I reckon is what we lacked a little bit last year.
“When we had guys out of form, we didn’t have the depth that we would have liked, so that’s what we’re trying to build at the moment.
“We’re hoping next year we basically get two other recruits with James Menzies and Josh Janssen back from injury.
“Those two are really putting in a lot of work to get their bodies right so they will be like new recruits as well.”
As with 2018-19, Marshall finished last season in fourth place.
But unlike the earlier year, the Bears didn’t get the opportunity to make a run for the flag when finals were cancelled because of coronavirus.
While he believes his side would have entered a semifinal against ladder leader Bell Park with confidence, Walter acknowledged Marshall wasn’t in top form.
“We had a few guys that were out of form that we carried a bit, but in saying that, we won enough games early on and got there (to finals),” Walter said.
“We were there and we would have backed ourselves in to win it but we limped in a bit and weren’t playing our best and there were a few good sides in good form.
“It’s strange not knowing how it could have played out.”