Fit for finals
If Dimboola footballers perform as well in 2023 as they did last season, a toptwo finish is certainly possible.
Player-payment excesses docked the Roos 12 premiership points last season, but despite the setback they still finished fifth.
The Roos would have finished third under normal circumstances, with their 11-win season netting them a double-chance during finals.
Dimboola senior coach Jack Landt said this season was a ‘clean slate’ for his side and he made no apologies for preparing early for the 2023 final series.
Former co-coach Justin Beugelaar departed the club for Horsham District league’s Taylors Lake during the off-season, while Hayden Walters and Gene Robinson have also stepped away from the Roos’ 2023 campaign.
However, Landt said the team’s ‘ins’ this season, outweighed its ‘outs’.
“My younger brother Dylan Landt, after winning the Northern Territory Football League best-and-fairest medal, will join us this season,” he said. “To have someone of his calibre at the Roos is just great.”
Dylan Landt played at Ballarat Football League club Darley Devils, as well as at Essendon Football Club in the Victorian Football League, during the 2022 southern states’ football season.
He joined Northern Territory Football League club St Mary’s for the 2022-23 competition.
Jack Landt said former Dimboola best-and-fairest winner Ben Miller, as well as Sam Godden, had returned to the club.
He said Roos football leaders aimed to build on last season’s game style, with a focus on ball movement.
“It will be about how we move the ball this season,” he said.
“This can be hard to implement, especially given several players will only join us for the first time just in time for round one.
“The start of the season can normally be tough for country clubs when their travellers arrive and start to fit into the side, but this is true for lots of clubs across the league.
“We are not too fussed on what other clubs think about us, so all our expectations come from inside the club.
“The focus from halfway through the season will be about setting ourselves up for the first final.
“Several under-17s players will push for senior selection, too, including Paddy Clarke, who is a star of the future.”
Landt highlighted the Roos’ round-four match against Southern Mallee Giants, and their round-five clash against Minyip-murtoa as key early-season tests of the Roos’ capabilities.
“There are a great bunch of people at this club so we know by round one, everyone will be gelling and up and about,” he said.
Dimboola starts its 2023 season with a round one match against Nhill at Dimboola.