Pumas chasing change in fortune
After Moyston-willaura’s disappointing 2017 finish in Mininera and District Football League, the Pumas have gone hard during pre-season training.
To try to turn around their fortunes, the Pumas started training on November 6 last year, six weeks before Christmas.
The effort reflects a lot of work for the team as it looks to be ready and raring to go in round one.
The disappointment of last year has brought plenty of energy to training each week and with plenty of new faces, all players are keen to get into the action.
However, Moyston-willaura has had few outs from last year’s team and unfortunately the players who won’t be taking the field for the Pumas are of the highest quality.
These include last year’s best and fairest and dominant player Billy Laurie who has put in a clearance to Kowree-naracoorte-tatiara league, along with Lynden Brewis who is a midfield powerhouse on the long-term injury list.
There is also John Vanderwaal, who after kicking 61 goals in 10 games last season, was struck down with illness. He was a key forward for the Pumas, going into last season with 124 goals in 2016.
With the hope to improve through all grades and continue to develop their club culture, the Pumas have recruited heavily to try to fill voids created by the departures.
A long list of recruits include Luke Todd, Cori Corrigan and Riley Hamilton all from Wimmera league outfit Ararat, Jamie Bach and Daniel Mcdonald, Stawell, Mitch Sidebottom, Western Australia, Callum Stevens, Ballarat, Matthew Fogarty, Victorian Amateurs, and Jamie Elder returning from the AFL’S Northern Territory competition.
They join a list of players including Rhys Cronin, Ben Robertson, Josh Bywater, Matthew Peel, Jackson Seres, Joshua Day and Aaron Pianta who under the coaching of Matt Burmeister have proven that they have the ability to be a dominant team in the league.
Moyston-willaura’s season kicks off against Penshurst on Saturday, which will be a good yardstick in assessing whether the club’s recruiting and pre-season build-up has been on target.