Darley has moved quickly to reinforce its midfield stocks for next year’s Ballarat Football League season.
With last year’s league best and fairest winner Steve Kennedy and former AFL player Mitch Banner not returning for next season, the club is looking to fill the void left by their departures.
Football manager Craig Baker said adding midfield depth was the key off-season aim, with Wyndhamvale brothers Chris and Brian Graham and Lorne’s Don Roy joining the club.
Chris is a premiership-winning captain with Wyndhamvale while Brian won three league best and fairest awards while playing in the North Gippsland Football League before joining the Falcons last season.
Roy will be playing assistant coach to Heath Scotland.
It was a relationship between Scotland and the Grahams’ brother, Nick, that proved to be the key to getting them across.
“Heath played at Carlton with Nick,” Baker said. “With us losing Steve and Mitch, we had to replace those two onballers. We’re lucky enough to get them to sign on [last] weekend. Both will step straight into the side.”
The club has also announced that Brad Inglis is back after not playing last season, and Lochie Herring is returning to the club.
“Brad won our best and fairest award in 2012 before he broke his leg really badly,” Baker said.
“He came back and played but still had a crack in one of the bones.
“He’s been out since then and didn’t play last year. He went through what training and work load would be required to get back on to the field and said he could do it.”
The club is in talks with other players.
Baker said the arrival of the Grahams and Roy, and hopefully the return of skipper Shane Page and defender Darren Leonard, who both missed a big chunk of last season through injury, would help the club rise back up the ladder.
After winning the 2015 premiership, the Devils finished sixth this year, going out in the first week of the finals.
The departure of Kennedy to Altona is a big one, but Baker said the club’s best and fairest winner this season had been up front with them.
“He had been talking to us for a while and he indicated that while he enjoyed the club, he wanted to go back to his home club and play for them,” Baker said.
“We’re more than happy for him and happy with the service he gave us during his three years at the club.”
