By Tara Murray
Old Paradians find themselves in a familiar position as they head into the Northern Football League division 2 season.
Twelve months ago, the Raiders joined the league with little information about the sides that they were playing against in division 3.
After a premiership in their first season, the Raiders will now tackle division 2 this season.
“It’s a bit of deja vu,” coach Ben Turner said. “It’s a bit of an unknown season moving up a division.
“We found our feet really quickly last year and at the end of the season we moved out of division 3 and now into division 2.
“There’s a number of new teams and we’re preparing for it.”
Turner said the experience of last season leaves the squad in a much better position heading into this year.
He said while it was a daunting prospect last season, they were keen for the new challenge that is ahead of them.
“It has been really good,” he said. “We’ve got the guys who have returned, some new guys and some juniors, guys from various walks of life.
“This time last year we had no idea where we were going and what we were doing. We’re now aware of our capabilities and we’ll apply that to a higher level and raise the bar.”
The Raiders have kept the majority of last season’s premiership side.
Sam Gilmore is the biggest out of the side, returning to play at a higher level. Mitchell Merkel has retired, while Lachlan Murdoch, who missed the grand final has returned home to the country.
Turner said Gilmore wasn’t a player that you could replace and a number of players would have to step up to fill the void.
“We have picked up some experienced players and strengthened our playing group,” he said. “There hasn’t been an enormous turnover and there’s been a bit of continuity and we’re looking forward to what we can do this year.”
Turner highlighted three key recruits who he expected would play big roles this season.
Darcy Vallance comes to the club from Eltham where he was club captain for many years, including captaining to a division 2 premiership.
Ollie Stapleton crossed from Marcellin where he won a club best and fairest last year.
Billy Bedford joins the club from Diamond Creek having previously played more than 100 games for Greensborough.
Turner said there had also been a number of younger players who would be pushing for spots.
Just like last season, the Raiders will go into the season and take it as it comes.
“We are not putting expectations,” he said. “We want to be a hard team to play against and going into each fixture doing our very best and where it can take us and go from there.
“We want to be a hard team to play against.”
