Bellarine finals aspirants Geelong Amateur has landed a handy mid-season arrival, with Luke Hillier joining from GFNL powerhouse St Mary’s.
Ammos co-coach Riley Kershaw said talks with Hillier, who has strong connections with several players at KFC Oval, stepped up over the past fortnight following a season-ending injury to off-season recruit Harrison Orr.
“He’s good mates with Zac Nelson; he works with ‘Nelso’ as an electrician,” Kershaw said.
“So, he’s got that relationship there, and he’s good mates with Paddy Dowling.
“‘Hilly’ was an onlooker at some of our games early on in the piece, but we never spoke about footy.
“Then the whispers came that he may be interested in getting some consistent senior footy elsewhere.
“With the boys being mates with ‘Hilly’, Ammos became a club that may be suitable in that sense.”
Joining St Mary’s from Coleamballay in the Farrer League in the NSW Riverina region ahead of the 2023 season, Hillier played 12 games and kicked 17 goals in the seniors before being dropped for the preliminary final loss to Leopold.
He started this season in the reserves before earning a senior promotion in Round 4.
Hillier was dropped again the following week, with a five-goal effort in the reserve grade clash with South Barwon earning him a recall.
However, after six goals in three games, he was back in the reserves last week, kicking four majors against Colac.
“He’ll play forward or wing,” Kershaw said.
“He gets a lot of footy up the ground and then works hard into the forward line.
“I think you’ll find him playing higher up the ground.”
Kershaw was unsure whether Hillier would be rushed straight into Amateur’s team for Saturday’s trip to Portarlington.
With Geelong Amateur, which sits third on the BFNL ladder, his third club in three seasons, Hillier will carry five points under the Player Points System for the remainder of 2024.
“Particularly with a few guys down at (Geelong) Falcons, it’s not as easy as getting your side locked away early in the week at the moment,” Kershaw said.
St Mary’s co-coach Luke Rayner understood Hillier’s decision to make the switch.
“It’s probably for Luke some built frustration over his one-and-a-half years at the club, in terms of being on the borderline of senior/development (reserves) footy and not being able to lock down a spot,” Rayner said.
“I guess it’s probably come a time for him where – talking to Luke – he doesn’t want the stress of worrying about football in regards to whether he’s playing at 2 pm or 12 pm.
“We’ve been pretty honest with Luke in terms of where he’s at in our group of players, and he’s made the decision he doesn’t want to continue down that path with where he sits.
“It’s probably a bit of a relief for him to make a decision and join a club where he thinks he can be a good contributor at senior level.
X: @krockfootball
