By Josh Ward.
A new era is set to commence for the Bulls following an offseason filled with plenty of change at Pat Wright Senior Oval.
Last season saw Noble Park miss finals for a second consecutive season, finishing in seventh with six wins on the board.
Steve Hughes returns for his fifth season at the helm, saying that the side is going to be a lot younger this year.
“Outside of Kevin Kean and Scott McInerney, the rest of the senior list would be 25 and below,” Hughes said.
“For me I’m really excited about what lies ahead, there’ll definitely be opportunity.”
Many recognisable names have departed, including Noble Park legend Kyle Martin, fellow midfield star Jackson Sketcher plus Jack Beech to Springvale Districts.
Chris Horton-Milne has also departed for Dingley while Luke Bull and Nathan Noblett have joined Hampton Park and Morwell respectively.
Their departures could see players come into their own though, including Jordan Marson who’s honed his craft in that talented midfield.
“Jordan has ticked off 100 senior games, he’s a senior premiership player, he’s in his mid-20s, he’s had a great preseason and he’s probably been in the shadows of your Martin’s and Sketcher’s…
“He’s well and truly completed the apprenticeship and our expectation is for him to go to another level this year, which I think he will.”
Others have also impressed on the track too, including speedster Harley Fairbank and defender Lachlan Quaife.
“It’s a huge logjam of young talent which are creating good vibes around the club.”
The Bulls have also managed to pick up both on the field and off it. Among their inclusions is former Saint and Crow star midfielder Brad Crouch, who’s signed as a senior assistant.
“He’s connected so well with everyone around the club early, for a guy to come directly out of the AFL system with the runs he’s been able to achieve but just been one of the lads.
“There’s not a speck of ego about him. He’s already been fantastic for the club culture and he’s going to be fantastic on game day as well.”
Former Gold Coast Suns-listed and ex-Sandringham mid/forward Mitch Riordan has also signed having not played in the past few seasons
“He’s (been a bit) stop-start to his young football career, but he’s enormously talented and is a very intelligent footballer. I think he’s going to be a real asset for us.
Harry Broderick has recently signed too having played with Richmond’s VFL side and University Black the past few seasons.
“We did a little bit of match simulation (recently) and Harry was one of our standouts. Very excited about watching him apply his craft.”
That match simulation took place against Mornington club Pines, with the two clubs holding a combined training session this month.
“Pines have been doing that for a long time, I never really have. But we had our session (not long ago) and it was great fun, we learned a lot about our group.
“Being able to test your system against another club as opposed to testing yourselves against yourselves when you do intra club is definitely valuable.”
With a young list and some talent coming through the Noble Park gates, Hughes wants his group to have as much fun as possible and have a crack.
“We’re really optimistic about what we can achieve, but it’s difficult to say ‘this is the spot we want to finish in’ or ‘this is how many wins we want to have’. We’ll get there as the season goes on.
“What we’ve tried to encourage as a playing group is just for the boys to really enjoy their football this year, take the game and play with flair and believe in themselves. That’s our motto.”
The Bulls kick of their season with a trip up to Seebeck Oval to face south-east rivals Rowville.