PYRAMID Hill and Boort have switched up their pre-season regimes with a joint training session at Mitchell Park last night
Bulldogs coach Nathan Fitzpatrick said with many players from both clubs living in Bendigo, it made sense for the two teams to combine their resources.
Boort is one of 10 clubs which will join in a feast of football and netball at Pyramid Hill on Saturday, March 29.
Beginning at 11am, there are five practice matches to be played, culminating with the hosts meeting Kerang at 5pm.
Pyramid Hill, which finished runner up in the Loddon Valley league last season, will have a testing hit out against Kerang, which finished on top of the Central Murray ladder after losing only one game for the season before falling in the grand final to NNW United.
Fitzpatrick said Kerang would have “a different-looking squad to last year” but would be a good
opponent one week out from the start of the season.
Pyramid Hill has added veteran midfielder Ryan Semmel to its list, continuing its strong off-season recruiting spree.
Semmel is a three-time league best-and-fairest winner in the Heathcote & District competition and has also claimed six club best-and-fairest awards over a long career.
“We’ve lost a few from the midfield, so he’s another experienced head to chuck in there,”
Fitzpatrick said, noting that Semmel also could play deep forward.
Dale Cameron’s Boort had a hit out against Tooleybuc Manangatang in last Saturday’s blistering heat, fielding a young side with about nine regulars missing.
“The kids are really starting to improve,” he said.
Cameron is looking to seeing key recruit Carlos Egan on the field.
Egan is a small forward/midfielder who played with Essendon in the VFL after coming through the club’s Next Generation Academy, and has trained over summer with Collingwood’s VFL squad.