The Coburg Football Club are pleased to announce the re-signings of youngsters Dion Hill, Jordan Rogers, Cody Mance, Ruairi Cleary, Julian Hemala, Josh Totino, Andrew Sturgess and Zak Saad. All of these eight players made their senior debuts in 2014.
Hill was a surprise packet up forward in 2014, despite missing a fair chuck of the first half of the season with a nasty broken jaw suffered in round two. He managed 14 goals in 8 games, which included a 4 goal effort against eventual Minor Premiers Port Melbourne in Round fifteen.
Best deployed as a midfielder or down back, Rogers broke through for his debut in round seventeen against North Ballarat, and held his spot for the last four games of the year, his best performance being a 26 possession display against Frankston in Round Nineteen. Despite suffering a broken jaw mid-season, he managed a 5th place finish in the Eric Lines Trophy for Best and Fairest in the Development Side.
Speedster Mance was called up to make his senior debut in round two against Richmond and impressed greatly, however the next week broke his arm in an ugly collision against Collingwood. Returning in the second half of the year, the outside midfielder cemented his spot in the side on the wing with solid performances against Werribee, Port Melbourne, North Ballarat and Sandringham.
The son of the legendary Phil, Cleary made his much anticipated senior debut against Bendigo in round nine, kicking two goals, with his other senior appearance being against Essendon in round 11. He managed 19 goals from 12 games in the Development League, and finished off the season with a Premiership with West Coburg in the EDFL Division One Seniors.
Hemala made his debut in round eight against Footscray with a solid performance, after strong showings in a defensive role up forward for the development side, especially in the win over Casey. He kicked three goals against Bendigo the next round, then managed the next two games after that. He then was recalled in round seventeen before damage to his meniscus in his knee ended his debut season prematurely.
Totino was undoubtedly the most consistent performer for the Development Side in 2014. He took out the Eric Lines Trophy as the side’s best and fairest winner, and managed a respectable equal 6th place in the A.Todd Medal for the Development League Best and Fairest. He was called up for his senior debut in round 14 against Williamstown and retained his place for the next three games.
Since he started his VFL career with Coburg, Sturgess has made an immediate impact – he was named in the clubs leadership group for 2014 despite this being his first year at Coburg, and was responsible for mentoring some of the club’s younger players. Sturgess’ debut season in the VFL saw an impressive first half of the year from him, consisting of industrious performances in the clubs first two wins against the Northern Blues and Casey Scorpions, as well as the losses to AFL sides in Richmond, Collingwood and Footscray. He ended up with a ninth place finish in the club’s Jim Sullivan Medal count.
The cousin of club stalwart Adam, Zak made his debut in round three against Collingwood. He managed two goals that day, and the week after that. His best performance for the year came in the gutsy loss to Williamstown in round fourteen with three goals and proving to be a handful for the Williamstown defence all day.
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