By Ryan Long.
It’s an exciting time to be a part of the Bears with both senior groups raring to go for season 2024.
2023 was a transition year for The Basin Senior Men’s group after a great number of list changes that saw them enter the season as one of the youngest lists in the division.
Jason Wade returns as Senior Coach for his second year with the club. He was pleased with the development from start to finish of the season.
“We were pretty happy, we were pretty competitive in every game, we didn’t get smashed,” Wade said.
“(We) lacked a bit of experience, for 15 minutes a side would get a hold of us for a bit and we’d lose by 3-4 goals.”
Returning to the club as the director of football, Michael Cardamone has had an immediate impact on the senior side, working alongside Jason Wade on the recruitment front.
The club has targeted experienced players to add to what is still quite a young list.
“We targeted guys 28 and older because we didn’t have many,” Wade said.
“Billy Schilling, Joel Perry, Troy Wright, not only that, they’re bigger bodies, they help the kids out, we probably didn’t have any big focal points up forward.
“Cardamone with his business and where he’s been around, he’s got a lot of contacts so he’s done a great job in getting all these new blokes on board.”
Their impact has been felt immediately, even before the first bounce of the 2024 season, adding leadership to the group and working well alongside the younger players across the pre-season at training.
Of their recruits, a couple of the biggest names include Joel Perry and Billy Schilling.
Perry is a proven goal kicker, a huge physical spearhead who’s had experience with North Melbourne, Port Adelaide Magpies as well as EFNL clubs Vermont, East Ringwood and Upper Ferntree Gully.
Schilling is also a name that’s very familiar in the league, having captained Montrose, playing over 200 games and kicking over 500 goals while he was at the club.
A versatile player, Wade acknowledged his best footy has come from the forward line, which certainly helps the side that lacked a focal point in the forward half.
“Billy will play predominantly forward for us, he’s someone that can kick multiple goals so we’ll probably keep him in front of the footy most of the year.”
The club also sees the likes of Aaron Johns, Darcy McDonald and Lachlan Moss join the Bears as well as the return of Jackson Drake, who comes back to The Basin after a year with Premier Division club, Berwick.
Consistency throughout all four quarters has been addressed as a key focus over the pre-season with added leadership and experience set to assist in that.
“Fitness and keeping that intensity up for the whole 120 minutes has been a pretty key focus for us this year,” Wade said.
The strength of the club’s junior program and the transition pathway from junior to senior have Wade excited for the years to come at the Bear Cave.
“The reason why I applied for the job was the youth, junior club, the young blokes coming through,”
“They’ve been a great bunch of young fellas and hopefully they can see some success in the not-too-distant future.”
A great opportunity for the club sees The Basin face off against Heathmont in the opening game of the 2024 EFNL season this Friday Night at H.E. Parker Reserve.
“The more big marquee games the boys get to experience, the better,” Wade said.
“I don’t think the majority of them have played any night games so they’re all really keen to play in front of a big crowd, put the pre-season behind them and see where we are at.”
The Basin’s Senior Women’s side is set to make the jump into the Premier Division this season after a very strong 2023 season that saw the club face off in a Grand Final.
Adam Grant, a former player and junior coach with the Bears returns home to take over as senior coach of the side.
Not only does he already have a connection with the club itself, Grant knows the Premier Division competition well, having recently been at the SBL Wolves as an Assistant Coach.
“Very exciting, very welcoming from all the old-timers, and the girls themselves,” Grant said.
Once again, the club have been able to field numbers for two senior women’s teams, one of just a few sides to be able to do so in the entire league. Grant’s been thrilled with the numbers at training across the pre-season and the positive and welcoming attitude from the playing group.
“Really strong numbers, mid-thirties, girls are all excited and buying into the operation, it’s been awesome.”
The group will be once again led by skipper Julia Baker, with Danielle Brotto elected Vice Captain.
The two have not only been leaders of the Bears but also two of the best all-rounded players in the Deakin University Senior Women’s competition.
Last season, Baker fought hard in multiple different positions across the season and was a major part of the club’s Grand Final run.
“The utmost professional player when it comes to local footy,” Grant said.
“We’ll see a new Julia Baker this year, she’ll start in the middle for us, moving across half-back. If we needed her forward, she’d go forward, I wouldn’t hesitate in throwing her in positions we needed,
“It’s a really great opportunity for her for Premier Division because I obviously think she’ll excel there as well.”
Danielle Brotto was one of just two players to kick more than 50 goals throughout the season, including three majors in the side’s Grand Final loss to the Hawks.
She’ll be well assisted by a strong forward line set-up.
“We’ve got two towering girls who can play in the ruck and go forward, they’re both going to swap at deep forward and have Brotto at their feet.”
The likes of Ellie Weldon, Holly Dalton, Jaimee Monk and Caitlin Grimmett have also all re-signed, and are set to have a great impact on the senior side.
Having been a part of the SBL Wolves in recent years, Adam Grant knows what it takes to be competitive at the Premier Division level.
From learnings with the Wolves, he’s been able to bring across to make the transition into the Premier competition.
“Been able to manage the control of the football, South in our Grand Final, we were moving the ball really quick but then the Devils actually got us by just slowing the game day and gaining control,” Grant said.
“We’ve worked on that through pre-season through short kicking, short 45s and trying to get our skill level to a spot where we need to be in premier division.”
There’s no denying that the step-up into Premier is a challenge for any side but with a very healthy and strong list, Grant is confident that the Bears can be competitive each week.
“It’ll be a challenge. I think they’re up for the challenge, the Wolves the year before finished on the bottom and then made a grand final and maybe were a little stiff not to win it,”
“It will be a building year, we’ve definitely got the talent to match it with most of the teams,”
“I’m expecting to be very competitive in every game we play in.”
