It’s been another big week of move for the Coburg men’s side, with six signings announced over the past couple of days.
When first asked about the new signings, senior coach Jamie Cassidy-McNamara said, “They’d put in a fair block of work pre-Christmas, we could’ve signed these boys a little bit earlier but we had an extended break over Christmas so we wanted to see how everyone would deal with that as young players.”
“As soon as we saw they’d come back in great nick and (after) they jumped back into training we tried to tie them up nice and quickly.”
Three of the new signings announced were from Cassidy-McNamara’s old side in Old Trinity, with Cassidy-McNamara crediting the work rate of all three players.
“The thing with those three boys in particular is that they’d all been involved with Coburg prior to me becoming the senior coach so they’re here on their own merit. The work they’ve done over the past three months has been really impressive.
“Clearly it helps in a way that they come in with a good relationship with me and a strong understanding of what I’m looking for as a coach, but in saying that we’ve probably made them work harder than others and they’ve had to prove themselves to the wider coaching group plus list management.”
“I’m really excited to see what those three boys can do, and I think they’re all really talented.”
Gold Coast Suns Academy product Will Bella joins after eight games with the Suns VFL side plus 17 games with QAFL side Palm Beach Currumbin. CEO Sebastian Spagnuolo had this to say about the ex-Suns man.
“Will Bella making his way to Coburg is quite an interesting story really. He was in Melbourne and training with North Melbourne’s VFL program. Whilst training at North Melbourne he decided he’d be moving in with some mates in Coburg. It was the Friday before Christmas and I got a phone call at 8pm from a local football contact who said, ‘there’s a 6 foot 6 bloke here at the pub from Queensland that can play footy, get here now.’
“I wasn’t able to get there, but the contact was able to put Will on the phone and we had a good chat about how things weren’t looking great at North Melbourne because of their AFL depth, so we organised to have another phone call (when he was not in the pub). After that second phone call, Will decided to join Coburg and the rest as they say is history.
“As a footballer, Will is strong in the contest and flies for his marks. His family is the Bella family of rugby league fame in Queensland, so he’ll be able to match it physically. He also had some draft interest in his top age Under 18 years and although it didn’t happen for him back then, there’s no reason why he can’t have a big impact with us in 2023.
“We’re rapt to have him at Coburg and we have to thank my local footy contact Murray Nielsen and also the Drums Hotel in Coburg for bringing Will to our attention.”
The first of three Old Trinity players to be announced was defender George Belcher after a promising 15 game season in 2022 in the VAFA Premier A Division. Cassidy-McNamara had this to say about him.
“He was in the Oakleigh Chargers program in U19s, 193cm, medium-tall defender, really strong intercept mark, (was in) the top six in the VAFA last year for intercept marking and also had some really strong leadership qualities.”
Ben Rigoni was the next to be announced after winning the 2022 Goulburn Valley FL Best and Fairest award (Morrison Medal) with the Seymour Lions. Cassidy-McNamara had this to say on Rigoni.
“He’s only a young guy, 22. He’s a strong midfielder, really good inside and has put in a lot of work to prove himself, he’s been great.”
The second Old Trinity signing was that of inside midfielder Hugo McGlashan after a strong season in the VAFA. Cassidy-McNamara had this to say about the midfielder.
“Hugo didn’t do any NAB League, he’s a Trinity boy. Came second in the best and fairest, primarily an inside midfielder. He’s really strong around clearance and pressure.
Western Jets product Tom Rowland was the next signing announced, playing in 22 NAB League games across 2021/22 for the Jets. Cassidy-McNamara had this to say on the left-footed medium defender.
“He started in the program really strong; he came straight in really fit. Over the Christmas break we challenged to increase his strength and size, he came back and he did that. Really nice ball user, great athlete, he’s really exciting I think.”
And finally, the third Old Trinity signing was that of forward Sam Mason who joins after 11 games and 10 goals in 2022 with Old Trinity. Cassidy-McNamara had this to say about him.
“He’s a hyper-hybrid forward, 193cm, good in the air but good at ground level. He can kick goals but can also bring teammates into the game…(He) also came through the Oakleigh Chargers and Eastern Ranges systems originally.”
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