New faces ready for season start
Minyip-murtoa stands out as one of Wimmera Football Netball League’s most successful merger clubs.
Its senior football team added to that history with a compelling 2021 season of football, finishing in top spot.
However, the A Grade netball team, having secured the club’s first A Grade premiership in 2019, found the going tougher in a disrupted 2021 season.
President Scott Arnold said he remained confident in the club’s model before it geared up for the start of another season on Saturday.
“We are all just so excited to get into it with a new sense of normality,” he said.
“We realise the whole club-community missed out last year. We are a community club with strong values and we always strive to be consistently competitive every year.
“It is not about spending cash or looking for a quick sugar hit through interstate success. A long-term stable environment is more important.”
Incoming senior football coach Tim Mackenzie echoed Mr Arnold’s emphasis on a search for consistent performance.
“The club wants to be successful and compete for finals and flags every year. We don’t want to be a rollercoaster team,” he said.
The senior team heads into 2022 without its on-ball brother-pairing Tim and Ben Mcintyre and its other sibling duo – Nick and Kade Petering.
Mackenzie said despite the loss of ‘four very handy outs’, their absence would provide opportunities for emerging players to fill those shoes.
“There will be roles for our younger kids to play this year,” he said.
“Over the years we have given them senior games and it would be time for them to step up and fill the roles we need.”
The Burras have added former Fremantle Dockers and North Adelaide tall Tanner Smith; and Holbrook’s Hume league Azzi medal winner, midfielder Will Holmes.
Mackenzie said the side’s ethos this season was ‘opportunity’. “That has been our theme, the opportunity to put your name forward in 2022,” he said.
“We will still be high-pressuring and team-defence orientated but I will put my own spin on things.
“We certainly haven’t perfected things yet, but that’s what we are working on.”
Mackenzie said his side remained ‘bullish’ about what was achievable this season, despite there having been talk about Burras’ player losses in the off-season.
“There has been lots of talk and lots of hype about things during the off-season. Other sides might see us as vulnerable but that’s not how we see it,” he said.
“Obviously there will be challenges but there can also be success.”
Senior netball coach Sheridan Petering said her senior squad was full of new players this year.
“We have lots of new girls joining us. We built bonds and friendship early on and it shows because everyone has been really gelling in the last few weeks before the season starts,” she said.
She said while several senior players came from outside the club, junior talent was also pushing for selection.
“There has been really good numbers at training and we have so many great junior players. A couple of last year’s under-17s will play senior netball and we have several more to pull up from junior ranks if we need as well,” she said.
Petering said the senior squad’s focus remained on building team morale and Burras’ 2022 success was broad.
“We know what our goals are this year and while we play to win – we want to have fun,” she said.