Sport
30 March, 2023
Eagles kick off season 2023
WARRACK Eagles has kicked off its 2023 Wimmera Football League season with its first pre-season practice match on Friday evening. The Eagles played Horsham District Football League 2022 runner-up Kalkee on their home ground at Kalkee in their first...
WARRACK Eagles has kicked off its 2023 Wimmera Football League season with its first pre-season practice match on Friday evening.
The Eagles played Horsham District Football League 2022 runner-up Kalkee on their home ground at Kalkee in their first outing for the upcoming season.
A four quarter hit out produced a strong workout for both teams as the Eagles controlled the ball well throughout the match with some strong running play across the lines.
Coach Daniel Bell was pleased with the work out and took a close look at his team in a roaming role across half back.
Bell said the game helped with a few structures that the coaching staff have been trying to implement into the team for the coming season.
“It was a good hit out, the first one is always good to get out of the way. We were pretty happy with some of the work around the stoppages, it’s something we have been working on through the pre-season.
“Skills were down a bit early, but you’ve got to expect that being the first practice match.
“We (the coaching staff) have set up what we want around the stoppages and general play and the boys adapted pretty well I thought,” he said.
With pre-season being in place since the end of last year, the Eagles have been training three nights a week over the past six weeks with a healthy number being present throughout.
“We’ve got a pretty good group of core players that have been in the system for a few years now and with another big pre-season under their belt, will help lead the team and play big roles.
“We are looking forward to seeing their progress again this year,” he said.
Bell highlighted the work of players roaming through the midfield and setting up team-mates around the ground.
“Players like Declan Powell, Riley Morrow and Sean McKenzie have put in plenty of work over the pre-season, while Dylan Watts is another to stand out, like he did on Friday night with a strong game across half back.”
The Eagles will welcome new season signings for their first match in maroon and gold this Saturday when the team plays its second practice match against HDFL outfit Noradjuha Quantong at Anzac Park.
Tom James, Nick Inglis, Joe McKinnon, Connor Inkster and Kayden Edwards will join the team after missing the first hit out while Matt Johns and Kyle Cheney will also play their first matches after being unavailable on Friday night.
Jake O’Donnell and Daniel Penny will miss Saturday’s game but Bell said both will be available for round one selection.
An Under 17s game at 11am will precede the senior games which are still to be determined whether they are two separate games, reserves and seniors, or a mixture of both, dependent on numbers.