By Tara Murray
An already strong Mernda line up has received a couple of late boosts with two key signings weeks out from the Northern Football League division 3 season.
The Demons announced the signing of Lachie Evans and Nick Gregson for this season, with the pair set to play key roles.
The pair had been playing with Burnside Heights in the Essendon District Football League, but decided to depart the club after it was penalised for being over the salary cap.
Demons coach Robert Fletcher said the signing of the pair was icing on the cake.
“They are a couple of good signings,” he said. “We were always in with a slim chance to get Lachie as his brother plays with Mernda.
“They’ve been talking about them playing together before. They’ve never played together. I think their mum is more excited than them.
“Nick works for Lachie, so they are a combo everywhere.”
Evans, who is a ruck, won the NFL division 3 best and fairest award in 2023, before finishing third in the EDFL division 2 best and fairest last year.
Gregson has previously played with Reservoir in the NFL, with a career including more than 200 games and 330 goals.
Fletcher thought they were in a good position before the recent signings of the pair.
“We thought we had done OK,” he said. “We were pretty confident with where we were.”
“Billy Morrison was the best player in the competition two years before a knee injury. He didn’t do much last year and he will be massive for us.
“Nipper [Brent] Marshall struggled last year with injury as well. The recruits have been pretty good as well.”
Also pushing for senior spots will be a number of younger players. The Demons under-19s made finals last year.
Zach Ciacia, who won the under-19s club best and fairest last season, is the one leading the way to take that next step.
After consecutive finals series, Fletcher said they wanted to ensure that they would be in the mix come the pointy end of the season again.
“We want to play finals first,” he said. “We want to qualify for that and go from there.
“Fitzroy Stars and Laurimar, they will be the teams to beat.”
The Demons have one last practice match against Panton Hill before a round one match up against old rival Epping on April 5.
