By Nick Creely
Keysborough is well and truly eyeing another chance to claim its maiden Southern Football League premiership in 2018 and is compiling an impressive Division 2 list.
Under senior coach Matt Ferguson, the Burras went down by 20-points to Murrumbeena in a preliminary final after finishing second on the ladder after the home-and-away season.
But Ferguson said the group is raring to get stuck into the season, and is performing on the track as well as he’s seen in his time at the club.
“When your ultimately so close but so far, everyone’s very much driven to take two extra steps in getting to a grand final, then winning it, so that’s what we are focused on (this pre-season),” he said.
“We’ve stepped up in our fitness levels in a big way, so we will see a big difference in that area – last year, we probably had eight guys come in, and that’ll be similar next year.”
The Burras have been steadfast in improving their list but were focused on retaining their most prized players first.
“We pretty much locked in our entire list early on, so we lost two of what I’d say is our best 22, so I’m really happy with that,” Ferguson said.
“We’ve also got some brilliant returns, in terms of our captain Michael Downie returning from shoulder surgery, and Dylan Carlsson, who played interleague at Under 18s, so they are part of our leadership group.”
Joining the Burras in 2018 will be forward Bailey Wardle and Adam Machnikowski (Narre Warren), star Mt Eliza pair James Anwyl and Aaron Mcllroy, goalkicking machine Matthew Carnelley (Forest Hill), Alex Millard (Doveton), Shaun Dekkers (Hampton Park) and Troy Curtis (Hallam).
And with those players now in their arsenal, as well as an Under 19s side, Ferguson believes his group is well placed.
“We’ve had an Under 19s for the first time in a few years, so that’s exciting, and our recruits are fantastic and have fitted in really well,” he said.
“They’ve all been leaders at their former clubs, so they’ve brought some great off-field qualities as well as on-field qualities.”
Adding to the club’s new recruits, key lynch pins Chris Bryan, Cam Dalton, Jack McKinney, Luke Damato, Joff Humphreys have all put pen to paper.
“We’ll be a different side again,there’s no doubt about it – we’ll play different and change a few things up, and be hard to play against.”
The Burras will also compete once again for the Ian McLean Memorial Shield, a practice match against Officer on 17 March, in honour of Ian McLean, who passed away in September 2008 after a short battle with cancer.
Ferguson expects Ian’s son Toby – a current AFL player with the Western Bulldogs – to be present on the day.
