Back to boost the Devils’ bid for glory

A STRING of returnees has given Corio confidence it is building a bright future ahead as the Devils look to chase finals action for the first time in more than a decade.

Ruckman Aaron Taylor, 2019 best-and-fairest winner Liam Duffy, co-coach Joel Bennett along with senior players Dylan Shelley, Jack Larkins and Anthony Grace, have all recently inked extended deals with the Devils as part of mass re-signings.

The club has also announced that 2020 recruits Lachlan Sharp and Toby Bennett will be back again for 2021.

Co-coach Darren Bennett (below) said the young returnees, who joined the club prior to the abandoned 2020 season, would play a crucial role in moving the club forward.

“It’s really good to have all those guys re-sign — most of them are 24 or under and for a rebuild that’s really important,” Bennett said.

“One of our main goals is to achieve stability in the club, getting some young guys in who will back our system, and once we get a solid group, we can then build around them.

“We say to them, this is your club — you will be responsible for building the culture and standards going forward.”

The club has been winless in the past two years and has not played in a GDFL final series in more than a decade.

Bennett said establishing a tight-knit group and strong club culture was key to achieving on-field success in 2021.

“We hope we can give it a red hot crack next year, it has been a long time between flags,” Bennett said.

“We’ve got a young group who want to be together, want success and understand our plan and where we see our end goal.

“Hopefully some kind of success is not too far away.”

Bennett said that the club was also actively pursuing around seven players as potential recruits.