Bacchus Marsh is hoping its recruits for next season will more than cover the departures from the Ballarat Football League club.
The Cobras, who played off in this year’s seniors and reserves grand finals, have had a mixture of ins and outs in the off season.
Cobras coach Travis Hodgson said they were still talking to a few players about trying to get them across.
“We’ve had two outs and three ins so far,” he said. “No one else wants to leave.
“We know we had some areas that we had to improve. Hopefully we can retain the rest of the list and still add a couple more players.”
The first signings for the Cobras are VFL players Jake Owen and Jacob Chisari, and Chisari’s brother Matthew. Owen and Jacob Chisari were playing at Williamstown, and had been on the radar of AFL clubs a couple of years ago after being standouts at under-18 level.
Hodgson said Owen will add to the Cobras’ forward line.
“Jake’s a pretty good player from what we’ve seen,” he said.
“We struggled across half-forward this year. Rhys McNay was solid for us, but he did his shoulder early in the grand final, and we struggled.
“Jake will play centre half-forward for us and he’s had development league success in the past.”
Jacob Chisari, who played seven VFL games this season, will play in the midfield, while his brother will play across half-forward and half-back.
Hodgson said they always knew they were a chance to get both brothers once one had signed.
“Jacob was first cab off the rank.
“He suggested that his brother might be keen for a change as well.”
Kane White looks set to miss most of the year with a knee injury, but Trent Angwin, Simon Lafranchi and Jarrah Maksymow will be ready to go next season.
Blake Graham, who played in the grand final but spent most of the year in the TAC Cup, is expected to be available full-time next year.
On the downside, the Cobras have confirmed the losses of Dean Heta and Matt Denham.
Hodgson said the two weren’t leaving because they didn’t want to be at the club.
“It’s always disappointing to lose players,” he said.
“Matt has been a handy contributor over the last two years. He’s a one-pointer at both here and Melton. Most of his mates still play at Melton so he wants to play with them.
“Dean had a big impact this season. His partner is pregnant and they wanted to go home to be around the family.”
