New inclusions boost Storm
Adesire to make finals and then push deeply into the playoff series is a major spur driving Jeparit-rainbow as it prepares for the approaching Horsham District football year.
The Storm’s habit of getting only the barest of tastes of finals football in the past few years burns at a senior playing group’s core and the team is determined to take a step forward.
Coach Daniel Batson, in his second year in charge of the outfit, said previous results meant it was no longer good enough for the Storm to simply make the finals.
“It’s just not enough to play one or two finals any more. We’ve had the same core group that has come through and experienced several years of being almost there. We want to push forward,” he said.
Batson, who will again lead his team on the ground while relying on Marcus Hiscock’s assistance from the bench, is likely to have greater and more versatile player depth at his disposal this year.
The Storm appears to have strengthened its midfield and X-factor elements with match-winning veteran Ash Clugston returning from Dimboola and Adam Schultz back home after a stint with Warrack Eagles.
The club also has a couple of wildcards with Thomas Long, nephew of AFL great Michael Long, joining the team from Melbourne suburban football and bringing team-mate Jason Whitling with him.
Batson said Long, with previous experience in Northern Territory football, had a reputation as a flanker and on-baller and was joining the club in a rekindling of family connections.
“His father played with Jeparit in the ’90s. I haven’t seen a lot of him and we’ll get a better idea when we play a practice match in March,” he said.
“We’re hoping Whitling will be in the starting on-ball brigade. He’s won a few best and fairests as an in-andunder onballer-flanker and is a welcome addition to the mix.
“Clugston is also super fit and been carving up the track.
“As a 34-year-old, the same as me, we’ll try to manage him a bit to make sure he’s hitting his peak at the end of the season.
“We also have a few blokes coming out of the juniors who we’re hoping will take a step up and that will leave us with a good mix of older and younger blokes. We struggled with injuries and depth at the end of last year and with a little bit of luck we can have more blokes on the park at the right end of the season.”
Batson said it was important his team had more options to help spread responsibilities throughout the playing group.
“The plan is to change a few things up to help us score more goals and get a few more wins,” he said.
“We lost a fair few close ones last year and relied too heavily on Peter Weir to carry the load up forward.
“If we can find second and third scoring options it will give him more room to move.
“We have our game plan and will implement a few minor tweaks, depending on personnel.”
Jeparit-rainbow has been training twice a week, alternating each week between Jeparit and Rainbow, since January. It will switch from Mondays and Wednesdays to Tuesdays and Thursdays after the March long weekend.
It will have a practice match against Great Western at Great Western in March.
Batson echoed the sentiments of other coaches across the region, saying it was hard to predict how the season might unfold.
“It’s very hard to tell at this stage. Round one will be what it is and we’ll go from there,” he said.
“But we’re not there to make up the numbers and much depends on how well we gel and how other teams have evolved.
“What we know is that Noradjuha-quantong came from nowhere to make the grand final last year, which suggests the competition is reasonably even.”