Returning stars have Benalla primed for revival

PLAYER CHANGES

Ins: Nick Mellington (Williamstown), Josh Mellington, Nick Brazil, Fintan Brazil (Violet Town), Tom Bennett, Wade King, David Mennan (Returning), Campbell McCoy, Blake Uebergang (Goorambat)

Outs: Jake Pallpratt (White Hills), Adam Walsh (Geelong), Michael Reese (Moved overseas)

Benalla enters season 2023 as a true Goulburn Valley League dark horse.

A perennial finals contender during the past decade, the Saints plunged to the depths of the ladder in 2022, as they battled post-COVID-19 player shortages.

But fast-forward 12 months and the club finds itself back in a position to catapult back up the ladder — with the return of some Benalla favourites set to lead the charge.

Mellington brothers Nick and Josh will be back in red, white and black, with the former fresh off an extended VFL stint with Williamstown and the latter having dominated the Kyabram District League for Violet Town.

Former North Melbourne and Carlton spearhead Jarrad Waite will also be back with his home town Saints, after booting 19 goals in five appearances towards the back end of 2022.

Throw in the consistency of stalwarts James and Will Martiniello and skipper Chris Welsh through the midfield and there is certainly plenty of talent set to take to the showgrounds.

But co-coach Mark McKenzie, who will once again be steering the ship alongside Will Martiniello, opted to temper expectations ahead of the new campaign.

“To think we can go from bottom to top over night, it is pretty unrealistic,” McKenzie said.

“Just getting the club steady is the main thing for us, we were in turmoil 12 months ago, so we just want to get back to a stage where we are more competitive.

“On the recruiting front we have been very careful in the way we’ve gone about it in the fact that the guys we’ve brought are locals and people who have played for the club before.”

With more numbers on the track throughout this pre-season, McKenzie said he expected the entire club to benefit from the added depth.

“We were probably more filling gaps last year, because we had plenty of them,” he said.

“While this year I feel we will be able to plan to win games as opposed to limiting the damage.

“So there will be a different mindset from both Will and I in the way we coach and the players in how they attack the game.”

FINISHING RANGE: 6TH-10TH

Trying to work out where the Saints will finish is a tough one to decipher.

If everything clicks with their talented recruits, there is no reason why they can’t quickly turn themselves into a finals contender and compete with the competition’s best sides.

But if injuries hit, depth could become a major issue as the club still recovers from the player shortage battles it faced 12 months ago.