Having already farewelled five players and bracing for further departures, St Mary’s has had an off-season victory with the signing of star Lara midfielder Bayley Cockerill.
Cockerill has rejected offers from several Bellarine clubs to link up with close mate Brayden Ham, who was also the subject of interest from at least two BFNL teams.
The former Geelong Falcon, who finished third in the Cats’ best-and-fairest, was the third-highest disposal winner during the GFNL home-and-away season and fourth for contested possessions.
“The opportunity with Bayley came about through the association with Brayden,” co-coach Luke Rayner said.
“They’re very close mates, and the conversation started between those two guys, and ‘Hammy’ connected the dots between the club and Bayley.
“And Bayley, to his credit, went through a diligent process, in terms of Lara and ourselves, and I know that he spoke with other clubs as well.
“He was really comfortable that he felt it was time for his own change, personally, and he thought we were the best option for him.
“His numbers are really impressive with what he’s been able to do at Lara, and with a few of the outs being in and around our midfield group, he’ll certainly go a long way in helping fill that void.”
Despite the departures of Kade Chalcraft, Sam Dobson, Dion Johnstone, Damian McMahon, and Nick Minchin and question marks over two-time Mathieson medalist Harry Benson, experienced midfielder Joe Maishman, and young forward Michael Rudd, Rayner is bullish about what’s shaping up to be a new era at Anthony Costa Oval.
“There will probably be more of a turnover to what we’re used to,” he said. “But to lose to 6-8 players, I don’t think’s catastrophic to our group.
“What it does do, it does force change, and we’re probably in a position now where we need to change.
“We need to do things a little bit differently; we need to get a bit of a refresh of our group; we need to bring some new people in; we need to provide some more opportunities again to our younger brigade.
“The silver lining of injuries this year is that we were able to get genuine games into a lot of our 20, 21, 22-year-olds,” he said.
“We’re really excited about what they can do next year.
“And we think we’ve got three or four under-18 lads coming up that are certainly senior quality footballers as well.
Key position player Charlie Sprague was again the target of junior club Barwon Heads but has chosen to remain at St Mary’s.
“Barwon Heads are going to be into Charlie every year, no doubt,” Rayner said.
“And I’m sure, at some stage, Charlie will end up back at Barwon Heads.
“I certainly don’t think the time’s right for his footy at the moment to go back to BFL footy.
“He’s an extremely well-established GFL footballer that’s still on the rise.”
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