AT a time when most clubs in the AFL Central West competition are trying to bolster numbers for the proposed two-tier senior competition, the Bathurst Giants are working out how to adapt to losing proven stars.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
At least six players from the 2019 Giants' senior men's side - which reached the preliminary final for the second consecutive season - have been confirmed as departing the club by coach Mark Kennedy.
Dave Manning, one of the league's most experienced players, has relocated to the Central Coast for work while Steve Yiv has moved to Tasmania.
On top of that, the core of talented teenagers who had been fostered through from from the Giants' junior ranks to have a strong presence in the senior outfit, has been decimated.
"We've lost Steven Yiv who was really good for us on the half-forward line and we were going to try and run him through the middle this year," Kennedy said.
"Nic [Broes] is going to concentrate on staying in Canberra, he wants to concentrate on cricket now, not football. He might play down there for a team.
"From that lot of juniors we have come through we've lost Nic Broes, Mitch Taylor, Aiden Macauley, Reilly Mitchell - so we've lost a lot of good, skilful players.
"We've also lost Dave Manning, which is another big one.
That drain of players means that the Giants are highly unlikely to have the numbers to field a reserves side - a grade which AFL Central West is keen to see reintroduced in 2020.
For Kennedy the priority is making sure there is enough player depth in the senior men's side the Giants will field. He admits that will probably mean the outfit will not challenge for the premiership.
"I'm not really worried about results now, our shot was last year. We had a good team last year, we were pretty fit and focused, but that game [preliminary final] against Orange done us in," he said.
"They won the game at the end of the day, but we just had so many players out for that game, we just couldn't get our ducks in a row to have a really good run at the premiership.
"It's going to make it harder for us to get a two-tier competition up and running. We'll do our best, but we haven't had any new players come to the club.
"We are all about sustainability, sometimes you've got to redefine your goals, sometimes it's not about cups in the cabinet.
"We've always been a junior focused club, we want to make sure our nursery is ticking away and across the board our numbers are growing in juniors. Our numbers are growing in youth girls and women's."
Kennedy will try and lure former Giants juniors like Nash and Charlie Hutchings back to the club to play senior football. He will still have "older, solid players" on his roster as well.
Sometimes you've got to redefine your goals, sometimes it's not about cups in the cabinet.
- Mark Kennedy
He is hoping more new faces will show up when pre-season training commences on January 19.
"We'll still have James Kennedy, Paul Jenkins who has always been that consistent leader with the club and will play a big role on the field this year in terms of leadership in a young, developing team," he said.
"We've also got a guy like Matt Tomczyk who is coming back from injury, he'll be back bigger and fitter and everything.
"We are going to try and do as much pre-season work with the football this year as we can. We will do a lot of running, a lot of cardio, but using footys as much as we can. We will build up our fitness level base for the season, but also our skill base."
DO YOU WANT MORE ORANGE NEWS AND SPORT?
- Receive our free newsletters delivered to your inbox, as well as breaking news alerts. Sign up below ...