Ovens and Murray Football Season Preview 2024

The Border Mail

The Border Mail's Andrew Moir and Xavier Mardling preview the Ovens and Murray Football League for 2024.

Transcript

00:00 Hi there, Xavier Mardling from the Border Mail and joined by Chief Footy Rider Andrew

00:06 Moyer ahead of a bumper Arvinds and Murray season.

00:09 Fred, you must be excited.

00:10 It is a great time of the year in that zone.

00:12 I must admit I love March with the cricket finishing and the footy starting.

00:16 And look, with the amount of name players we've had coming to the competition, I mean

00:20 there's been a handful of AFL players, a stack of State League players, so it should be a

00:25 ripper.

00:26 I mean the standard should be outstanding.

00:27 It was last year, should be again.

00:29 Last year, as you touched on, amazing year last year.

00:32 You've got Yarrawonga, Wang, Aubrey's always thereabouts, Rovers.

00:37 The good sides have got better, which makes it tough for the teams that missed out last

00:42 year, but those good sides have got better.

00:44 Who are you thinking will feature in the last game of the year?

00:49 Oh, it's impossible to go past Yarrawonga, isn't it?

00:51 I mean they won the competition last year in one of the great grand finals we've seen

00:55 in the modern era.

00:56 They've lost Mark Wiley, who's a real heart and soul of that club.

01:01 Dylan Conway played in the grand final.

01:02 He only played seven games for the season, but did his role in the grand final.

01:06 Kicked two goals in the first quarter when other players were struggling too.

01:10 So he's a loss from that point of view.

01:13 But they've picked up Dan Howe.

01:14 He's 28 years of age.

01:16 He's come straight out of the AFL.

01:17 There's not a lot of players you get every year who come straight from the AFL.

01:21 I mean a lot of it in that instance just comes down to how much Dan wants to play well.

01:26 I mean has he got his head around the fact he's no longer on an AFL list?

01:30 And he's a Yarrawonga boy from that region, so he'll be pumped at the eyeballs to go,

01:35 well he would have seen his brother Lach, his own brother, win a competition last year.

01:38 So he'd love to win that.

01:40 So I would think if Lach wants to make it, have a big season, he'll have an absolute

01:45 bumper.

01:46 Yeah, absolutely.

01:47 And we've got Wayne Garretta, who, desperate to atone from the turmoil of a couple of years

01:54 ago.

01:55 They look really good.

01:56 For the team from over the road, the Rovers, they look stronger as well.

02:01 And of course Aubrey, who, you know, they're always really strong.

02:06 Are we sleeping on Aubrey a bit?

02:08 Could they be there abouts with some of their recruits?

02:11 Look, I think, I don't know if anybody's sleeping on Aubrey, simply because if you've played,

02:16 I mean they've played finals every year since 2009.

02:18 So, you know, it's a record-breaking run of finals achievements.

02:23 So I don't think anybody's sleeping about Aubrey.

02:25 Probably a lot with Aubrey will come to how much the two Conlon boys, Jacob and Lucas,

02:30 will play, and Riley Byce, if he plays at all.

02:33 Yeah, whether they feature in the VFL or they're more...

02:37 Yeah, exactly right.

02:38 I mean, certainly Riley Byce is impressed for Werribee, so you think you might not get

02:44 him back as much.

02:45 But if they were to get the two Conlon boys back on a consistent basis, gee, you have

02:50 the two Conlon boys still there, and then you pick up Fletcher Carroll, Jackson Kelly,

02:55 Lockie Tiziani, Matt Walker.

02:58 You've got to argue they're stronger.

03:00 And they got beaten in the grand final by four points.

03:04 Which makes it tough, because you think North Aubrey, Lavington, Myrtlefin, Raiders, they'll

03:11 all go into this season thinking they've got better.

03:15 But it's probably harder than ever to get into that top five.

03:19 Can you make a case for any of them sneaking in?

03:21 Look, I'd love to, but being honest, no.

03:24 I think the other five have just improved that much.

03:27 I think, as you said, those clubs will certainly improve, but it's a long way to go from four,

03:32 five, six wins to jumping up to nine or ten.

03:36 And obviously the story of the off-season, which we're all pumped about.

03:39 Cora Rutherglen back in the Ovens of Murray, which is where we have all grown up with them

03:45 and want to see them.

03:47 What are your expectations for them?

03:49 Can you see them winning a game?

03:51 That's the talking point, isn't it?

03:53 It's been hard to know how they're going to go and they're getting the recruits all in

03:59 one place.

04:00 But we saw on the weekend they looked competitive, albeit against the District League club.

04:07 We all want Cora Rutherglen back in the competition, that goes without saying.

04:10 We all want Cora Rutherglen to win a game or even a couple of games.

04:14 I don't want to sound like I'm shooting Bambi here, but I don't think they will.

04:18 But you've got to lower your expectations for the Roos.

04:21 They've come from a position no club in the O&Ms have ever found themselves in.

04:26 They were out of the competition last year, so we can't go in saying, "Well, gee, if they

04:31 get beaten by ten goals in the first game against Auburn, what's going wrong?"

04:34 Just lower the expectations.

04:36 Let's hope they get through the year with three full teams in every grade and that'll

04:41 be a win.

04:42 And look, if they get a win, that'll be a great bonus.

04:45 It'd be just great to have footy back at John Ford Oval.

04:47 It's just great to have footy back full-time.

04:49 Absolutely.

04:50 Righto, before we go, Morris Medalist.

04:52 He's done it all the time.

04:54 Callum Moore is 1-1.

04:55 He's had two runner-up finishes in his three years.

04:59 Wangaratta's going to be a terrific side.

05:01 Probably will play the grand final against Yarra, I would think.

05:03 So Callum Moore just from Willy Wheeler.

05:05 Excellent.

05:06 Well, thanks for the chat, Frit.

05:09 Good to talk footy always.

05:10 Can't wait for the action to get underway.

05:13 And we'll hold you to account on these big bold calls come September.

05:18 That's why I'm on the massive monies, hey?

05:20 Cheers.

05:21 [BLANK_AUDIO]

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