Northern Knights’ TAC Cup season got off to a perfect start with victory against Western Jets on Sunday afternoon.
Not known for starting the season well, the Knights came out of the blocks quickly by kicking six goals to two in the first quarter.
The Jets fought their way back into the game and by the final break, scores were level.
The Knights weren’t going to let the win go, kicking five goals to three in the final term to win 14.12 (96)-12.8 (80).
Skipper Nick Coffield kicked four goals, while Joel Grace was best afield.
Speaking before the game, new Knights coach Justin Wenke said that after a long pre-season everyone at the club was ready for the real stuff.
“We had a really good build-up in the preseason with a whole lot of new coaches and everyone working together for the first time,” he said.
“We played really well in the trials and inter-squad matches. We had one games against Oakleigh Chargers and two against the Calder Cannons
“We were really competitive in all three games. We had about 83 players who tried out for us and we’ve ended up with about 52 players on the list.”
Wenke said the mix of 18-year-olds and17-year-olds was split about 60-40.
The side also has four over-age players – ruckman Matthew Harman, Jamison Shea, who has been named in the leadership group, Sam Binion and Adam Tomaro, who has come across from the Oakleigh Chargers.
Wenke said he was excited about seeing what those four players could do this year.
He said Coffield would be one to watch this season and would be high up in draft contention.
Other stand-outs in the pre-season have included Ethan Penrith and Jack Petruccelle.
Petruccelle, who made his Knights debut last season, has made the move from basketball to football.
“His basketball talent works really well,” Wenke said. “He tested for speed at the TAC Cup test day – 2.8 flat for 20 seconds and that’s right up there. His pre-season has been outstanding.”
Patrick Naish, who is in the AIS academy, is another draft hopeful, with Richmond to possibly look at him as a father-son pick.
Wenke said they were unlikely to see much of him this season, given his academy and school football commitments.
Of the bottom-age players, Wenke said Tom McKenzie, in his first season of TAC Cup football, and Joey Ciranna were two to watch.
Wenke said development of a winning culture was a priority for the Knights after a couple of tough seasons.
He said the players had shown that they want to play finals.
“We don’t want to set a ceiling on what we can do this year,” he said.
The Knights’ girls TAC Cup side got its first win of the season, also with victory against the Western Jets.
The Knights kept the Jets to just one goal in a convincing 6.7 (43)-1.1 (7) win.
Ciara Fitzgerald kicked two goals for the Knights with Nell Morris-Dalton best on ground.
