By Blake Tennant.
After a relegation year for the young Falcons, they would want to put season 2023 behind them and look for a new division in Division Two for 2024.
Luke McCormick returns as senior coach of the side, hoping they can make a return to finals and start fresh.
McCormick was thrilled last season with their star recruit Ben Hickleton who crossed over from East Ringwood. He played an important role with the side as they battled through injuries.
“Injuries weren’t great last year with not being able to put together a full team and having to rely on our big recruit Ben Hickleton,” McCormick said.
“(Hickleton) helped us with our ruck stocks and we know that Ben plays as a forward and when down there he was dominant in that position, and will push to be a more full time forward.”
Riley Clausen won the club’s best and fairest in 2023, having a phenomenal year at the club.
“With the year Riley (Clausen) had when the team wasn’t performing well, Riley’s leadership was outstanding and the way he set standards of himself was superb can’t wait for what he can produce in 2024.”
Young Falcons Jayden Cyster and Matt Laffin missed the 2023 season due to injuries, set to get a fair go at it in 2024.
“The blokes who were injured are actually like recruits due to not being able to get on the park, keen to see how they go this year.”
“The drive from the group is young, we also look to see how we can go with our recruits such as Connor McGuire and Liam Cox who have come from Chirnside Park as well as Jake Upton who has impressed this pre-season.”
Marc Massarotti will play for the Falcons in season 2024 as a full-time player.
A couple of standouts for the Falcons are young guns, Ryan Haley and Lachie Cox.
McCormick stated that he has really enjoyed what his seen from these players over the pre-season.
“They haven’t missed a beat and I’m excited to see how they go.”
“Patrick Klep is another player, an experienced player who came back to our club last year, showed a lot and has good leadership, It should be a good year for him.”
McCormick’s expects the club has the potential to push for finals and have a super competitive season. The senior coach is excited to have full availability from the group and to take learnings from the last couple of years and bring them into 2024.
