By Nicholas Galea
The Coburg Football club is excited to announce that a further six players have committed to the Club for the 2022 VFL season with defenders in Ryan Sturgess, Tom McKenzie and Ben Jepson signing having their contracts extended.
The trio are joined by ruckman Nathan Howard, midfielder Braedyn Gillard and small forward Josh D’Intinosante.
Gillard couldn’t be happier putting pen to paper to stay for a fourth year at Coburg, stating that the connection he has to many of the Club’s players and the culture at were major reasons for extending his stay.
‘I guess I just really love the boys… The culture we are building is much better than what I have been in at any club before,’ he said. ‘I’m just really excited with what the group can do next year and I just really like being a part of the Club and the culture that we have here.’
Gillard too was excited at what the team was capable of achieving in the years to come.
‘I’m really close to a lot of the boys and the belief that after some of the performances that we put in this year, the belief of how far we can go next year.’
‘We’ve got a lot of young blokes so as we all develop and grow we can go really far in this competition.’
Following his extension, Sturgess pointed out that he was excited at being a part of the next wave of Coburg footballers hoping to return the football club to finals football and bring success once more to Piranha Park.
‘Being a part of that new breed is something I am grateful for,’ he said. ‘I want to be a part of the group that takes the club forward and pushes for finals success.’
‘We have a really good core group of boys that are really excited, keen to stick on and do great things for this football club which has got such a rich history.’
‘Hopefully most of the group stays on because I think we can build something pretty special and we just need a really good, clean crack at it.’
Crafty small forward Josh D’Intinosante echoed Sturgess’s thoughts, believing that successful times were coming up in the immediate future and that there was plenty of confidence in the group achieving it, especially with many of its players re-signing for next year.
‘I think it just shows that a lot of us are on the same page when it comes to moving the Club forward,’ he said. ‘This year was a bit of a bumpy ride but we probably should have won a lot more games than we did as we lost four games by under a goal.’
‘This year we only truly got pumped in was against Geelong but every other game we were in them… I think it just shows how good we actually are and if we keep the belief for next year we cannot just try and play finals but go deep as well.’
‘If we do have that belief in ourselves and each other.’
Another player who re-signed for next year in Tom McKenzie thoroughly enjoyed his maiden season with Coburg saying that even with all the interruptions that he loved the year and that he couldn’t wait for 2022. McKenzie highlighted that the major improvement throughout the season came from the culture that the group had created which held it become more professional, not just on the field but off it as well.
‘We are trying to create this accountability amongst all our players, as a group which we started to get too closer towards the end of the year and I think that’s why we played some good football,’ the defender said. ‘We couldn’t finish it off in the end with a few close losses but I think as a group we are really confident that we can do some really good things next year.’
‘I’m just itching to be playing football, I can’t wait until next year.’
First year player Ben Jepson too shared McKenzie’s belief that the off-field culture would play a big part in the Clubs 2022 on-field fortunes.
‘I think that if everyone gets together and has a good run with preseason – in a normal footy season which would be ideal – that will help the off-field culture and connection which will provide on-field success,’ Jepson said.
Jepson also highlighted that the balance the club had with its younger and senior players was important in pushing the Club forward.
‘Having good young blokes throughout the club as well as some older and wiser heads that can keep them in line at times is a really good mix and it creates good culture.’
Up and coming ruckman Nathan Howard is another player who has put pen to paper for 2022. Although Howard played just the sole game this year, he felt a strong connection to the playing group even with the COVID lockdowns throughout the season.
‘I loved coming and training with all the boys, I just found that the club is a really good place to be at,’ the developing ruckman said. ‘Obviously there were a lot of interruptions in the season but despite that I loved being out there with all the boys and the coaches.’
‘I guess one thing I really found out is that everyone is so close… It doesn’t matter who you talk to but everyone will have a conversation with you, the group is really close and that will help us with hopefully some success next year.’
Coburg fans can get excited as they can expect more news on further player re-signings for season 2022 across our Men’s and Women’s teams to be announced in the coming weeks.
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