A big off-season has paid off for the Melton Wolves as they are set for a big Gridiron Victoria season.
The Wolves have struggled for numbers in recent years but still managed to just miss out on playing in the championship game by one game last season in division 2.
A lot of hard work has been put in during the off season, to help have the side in a better position heading into the new season.
Quarterback Blake D’Ascola said they were excited for the season ahead.
It’ll be his second season at the club, having stepped into one of the biggest roles on the field as a rookie.
“It is coming up pretty quickly,” D’Ascola said. “We’ve been recruiting non-stop since the end of last season.
“That’s been running into the pre-season which started four weeks ago. It’s been really good with a lot more bodies coming down.”
D’Ascola said they had looked to bring some new players into the club but also looked to bring players back which had been successful.
He said they had struggled with numbers since the Covid pandemic.
“We want to give it a red hot crack,” he said. “We’ve tried to get as many players as we can.
“We played the majority of games last season with 15-16 players.
“In gridiron you want at least 25 to 30 players and we’re on track for that number.”
D’Ascola said due to the lack of numbers there was a bit of a domino effect on the field as they struggled to run out games strongly as they were relying on the same guys last season.
He said not only on the field were things starting to pick up, they were also having more people involved off field.
“There’s a lot more faces on the committee,” he said. “They’re done a lot of work and there’s a lot more people around the club.”
Brad Baker will again coach the side. Baker initially stepped into coaching the side through injury and has held the role ever since.
He has been at the club since the start.
D’Ascola said they had added some more coaches to the coaching group to help support Baker and have a full coaching team.
After such a good pre-season, D’Ascola said they were hoping for big things on the field as well.
“There is going to be more division 2 teams with the competition growing rapidly,” he said.
“We think we can have a real hot chance at a championship at the end of the year.”
