Calder, who played for Mornington last year, is a potent full forward who kicked 72 goals for St Mary’s this season.
But it is midfielder Andrew Moore who is the Roos’ biggest recruit.
Moore comes to Dimboola after playing 60 AFL games with Port Adelaide and Richmond, before carving out a stellar career for North Adelaide in the South Australian National Football League.
“We’re definitely aiming for a top three spot again this year,” Landt said.
“There’s no reason why we can’t perform a bit better than last year.
“We’re definitely going for a second chance, and going deep into finals this year.”
Landt said he had been impressed with the Roos’ pre-season, with lots of local players and junior footballers progressing to Dimboola’s senior team.
The Roos played practice matches against Harrow-Balmoral on March 23, and Great Western on Saturday.
“It actually went really well. We were missing a fair chunk of senior players, so we probably had 13 to 14 young guys and reserves playing and they all played really well, which was a good sign for the season,” Landt said.
Other key recruits include defender and ruckman Pat McDonough, from PEGS in Victorian Amateur Football Association, forward Ben Brett from PINT in the NTFL, while Ash Clugston returns to the club where he was a four-time best and fairest and Michael Pohlner comes back from Minyip-Murtoa.
But it’s not all sunshine and rainbows, with the Roos losing Sam Godden, Jonathan Ross and Aisea Raikiwasa from last year’s team.
“Our strength this season will be having a spread of good players. We’ve had some good players, but all played the same position in the past,” Landt said.
“Now we’ve a gun key forward, a centre half back who can play in the ruck and a star midfielder in Moore, and around that we’ll have pretty good coverage across the whole ground this year, which is exciting.”
Landt said another exciting prospect was the progression of Alex Jakiel.
“He’s an 18-year-old who played really well in the practice match and trained hard since October,” he said.
“He’s going to be one to watch this season for sure. Him and Patty Clark is another one. He’s probably played 20 senior games now. He’s looking ready to step up this year.”
Landt will be assisted by bench coach Matthew Everett, while Ben Miller and Moore will be playing assistant coaches.
Dimboola has a bye in round one, and will be itching to play Nhill on April 27.
“There’s a good rivalry between Dimboola and Nhill over many years, so it’s good to get up there to play our first game and put everything in place we’ve been training for. The boys can’t wait to get out there,” Landt said.
Coaches:
Seniors: Jack Landt
Reserves: Dean Toet
Under-17s: Nick Williamson
Under-14s: Sam Taylor
Under-12s: Josh Cook, Daniel Greig and Chris Avery
The entire April 10, 2024 edition of The Weekly Advertiser is available online. READ IT HERE!
