By Nick Creely
Cranbourne premiership star and five-time Wookey Medalist Steven Spoljaric, has defected to rival club Springvale South in a major shock to the DDCA competition.
The 40-year-old, arguably the finest player to ever don the whites in the competition’s rich history, has agreed to terms at Alex Nelson Reserve for next season.
Springvale South is the third club that Spoljaric has represented in the DDCA, after he also won a flag with Parkfield.
Bloods skipper Craig Slocombe, the man responsible for enticing Spoljaric to the club, said the signing has been in the works “for a couple of weeks”.
“He’s a professional cricketer, so I’m sure it’s just a job to him, but it’s great,” he said.
Bloods president Peter Lawler was thrilled with the signing, and said that the offer put in front of Spoljaric was “reasonable”.
“We’re happy – the offer was nothing over the top, but decent enough,” he said.
Lawler said they also expect Malinga Bandara to come back to the club for the 2017/18 season.
“Malinga won’t be here for the start of the season, but we would be expecting him to be here by Christmas at least at this stage,” he said.
Cranbourne president Andy Ligt, who is also a good mate with Spoljaric, said the club has been aware for about a week that he was leaving after a mutual parting of ways, but is pretty shocked at the club that picked him up.
“I’m pretty surprised where he’s gone to, to be honest, but anyway,” he said.
“We wish Spolly all the best, he’s done some great things for our club – we thank him for his contribution, and for winning us grand finals.”
Ligt also confirmed that Matt Chasemore’s future at the club is still in limbo, after the 34-year-old confirmed to Star News Group a month ago that he is toying with a return to Premier Cricket.
“Discussions are still on-going – we’re not exactly sure where we are headed as a club,” he said.
“We’re disappointed at how we finished last year, so we’re looking at making changes.”
Ligt also suggested that the club would be looking to bring in fresh talent, whether that is mature players, youth or a new look coaching structure.
“We have to stock up a little bit – we’re talking to a few coaches at the moment,” he said.
“It’s just an on-going process.”
