‘We’re in front’

By Paul Pickering
YOU win some, you lose some. That’s footy.
Noble Park coach Mick Fogarty has been around the game too long to get worked up about the transfer merry-go-round.
So while you might expect the new Bulls boss to linger over the defection of two of the club’s most talented players, Dean Kelly and Dave Velardo, Fogarty is non-plussed.
“They can move on,” he said.
“That’s not being bitter. Honestly, we wish them all the best.”
Having returned to coach the club at which he began his senior footy career, Fogarty’s positivity seems justified ahead of Saturday’s season-opener against East Burwood.
Granted, Kelly’s move to arch rival Vermont – and, to a lesser extent, that of Velardo to Devon Meadows – robs the Bulls of some serious firepower up forward.
Kelly made the Eastern Football League (EFL) Division One team of the year in 2009 and finished second in the Bulls’ best-and-fairest. Velardo had a down year, but his mercurial best is a sight to behold.
The Bulls have also lost veteran centre-half-back Adrian Little (Yarragon) and powerful utility Paul Fermanis (Oakleigh Districts), but Fogarty is understandably pleased with the arrivals to Moodemere Street.
The key name is former Frankston Dolphins forward Tory Dickson, who won the best-and-fairest at the struggling VFL outfit last season.
Then there’s returning stars Daniel Norman (Silvan), Gavin Vassallo (Springvale Districts) and Daniel Kennedy (Bonbeach), who will all be welcomed back to the Bullring with open arms.
Meanwhile, Jarrod Plymin and Sam Monaghan, each coming off three seasons of VFL grounding with Sandringham, should make an immediate impact.
Add Plymin, Monaghan and Norman to a fleet of runners that already boasts the likes of Peter O’Brien, Craig Anderson, Kyle Martin, Stewart Kemperman, Ziggy Alwan and Shayne Allan and you’d expect the Bulls to be at least the equal of most midfield units.
Noble’s defence looks solid enough, even without Little, but much will hinge on the output of Dickson and Vassallo up forward.
And Fogarty is comfortable with that.
“(They) more than cover for the guys we’ve lost, so I think we’re in front,” he said.
Whichever way the transfer scales have tipped, Fogarty is content with how the Bulls are shaping up.
Practice match wins over Narre Warren, Seaford and Greenvale have provided reason for optimism.
“I’m happy with our ball movement and the way the guys have gone about it,” Fogarty said.
“But it’s hard to gauge how the opposition is going to match-up.”
Gun onballer Anderson will take over the captaincy from Peter O’Brien, while Kemperman remains as vice-captain.
Fogarty says the club has decided to favour youth development over expensive recruiting binges as it sets about building its next premiership side.
That pursuit will be aided by the fact that Noble will enter an under-18 side in the competition this season, having been unable to field one in 2009.
All sides will begin their 2010 campaigns at Pat Wright Senior Oval this Saturday.