Heidelberg veterans Mark Favrin and Dale Nolan among recruits at Lower Plenty
SOME familiar faces will be returning to Lower Plenty in 2017 following the Bears’ relegation from Division 1.
Ben Gill returns after a stint with Old Eltham Collegians in the VAFA while brothers Matt and Tim Duckworth are back from Panton Hill.
The Bears have also recruited Heidelberg veterans Mark Favrin and Dale Nolan, adding some much needed experience.
“We are a pretty young group so we identified we needed to recruit some older players to come in and get the balance right,” Lower Plenty coach Michael Ryan said.
“We were too young, even to go back to second division, we just needed some experience and also key position players.”
Among the Bears other notable inclusions is midfielder Fabian Dorbolo, who was a part of the Southern Mallee Giants’ premiership win in the Horsham District league this season.
However, Blake Poyser has left the club, Billy Barden has retired and Jesse Smith and Alden Meale will miss the bulk of the season when they travel overseas.
Former Greensborough mentor Ben Turner, who was sacked following the Borough’s Division 1 preliminary final loss, has also joined the club as a senior assistant coach.
“It is fantastic to have a bloke like Ben who is a quality coach in his own right to come across and help us out,” Ryan said.
“It’s obviously a bit hard to take a step back as a senior coach sometimes but with his role at our club he is very much going to be hands on.”
Former Richmond coach Jeff Gieschen, a Lower Plenty resident, has also been appointed as director of coaching.
“The amount of time and effort he has put into it so far shows how passionate he is about the place and how keen he is to see the club get back into first division and go about it the right way,” Ryan said.