Kalkee to sport a new look
Horsham District football fans would be far too wise to fall into a trap of believing perennial force Kalkee might slip back in the field this season.
Sure the Kees have lost a few players from the team that took on Harrow-balmoral in a grand final last year. And sure, the club appears likely to present a relatively newlook this season.
But Kalkee has a historical habit of thumbing its nose at speculation and there is a reason it has easily one of the best records of any club in the competition.
Coach Stuart Farr, while wary of what pre-season developments might mean for his group, also provided insight into what made the Kees tick.
“There is always great support. It’s a very strong club from top to bottom that consistently preaches high standards on and off the field,” he said.
Farr is taking sole responsibility of leading Kalkee this season, a move that will free up his joint coaching partner from last year Hamish Exell to concentrate purely on playing.
“He had a great year last year and now, free of coaching responsibilities to pursue farm-business and other interests, I’d expect him to have an even better one,” Farr said.
“We will be a little bit different this year. A few blokes have left town, others have decided to pull the pin or had a change of heart about play.
“It’s been a bit tough on the recruiting side, but that’s footy.
“But we have good depth coming through from the juniors and other guys are going to have an opportunity, which is always good.”
The absence of the likes of Hugo Papst, who is playing with Sebastopol in Ballarat, Lachie Exell, contemplating a shift, Steve Schultz, hanging up the boots, and Harrison Wentworth, staying in Geelong, will leave some holes in the playing list.
But Farr said circumstances would also open the door for the likes of Daniel Launer, Daniel Schache and Jacob Harris, who all missed last year’s grand final with injury, and a group of rising young players.
“We also have a few blokes coming in such as Riley Bryan from Horsham Saints, Cooper Price, who has had a year off, and Bailey Pilgrim from Laharum. We’ve also had Connor Gould from Noradjuha-quantong come along and Jamie Byrne who has been playing up north,” he said.
“There’s been a bit of movement from the young blokes coming through and we’re expecting them to take on senior footy this year.”
Farr mentioned the likes of emerging Colby Ledgar, Tom Glover, Jonah Connelly, Ben Bolwell and Jake Mills who had all been regulars at senior pre-season training sessions.
“We’re not going to be a tall side, but I’m confident we will be able to play to our strengths through a running game,” he said.
“We held our own for three quarters against a big, strong Ultima side in a practice match and the signs were really good.
“The boys didn’t shirk an issue, which I was really happy with.
“Style of play will be very similar to last season and with the juniors and recruits will bring speed and enthusiasm.
“We’ll have an emphasis on applying pressure and using the ball well both offensively and defensively.
“We will probably have to manufacture goals differently and I will be asking our onballers and wingmen to hit the scoreboard.
“I’m expecting us to be unpredictable, which I believe will be a real strength.”
Kalkee had a final dress rehearsal for the season in a match against Dimboola last week and will play reigning premier Harrow-balmoral in the opening round.