By Mark Heenan
OCEAN Grove coach Paul Lynch said new gun recruits will not only bolster its key midfield and forward stocks but make it a genuine premiership contender in 2017.
The Grubbers have capped off big signings in recent weeks with ex-Thomson GDFL star midfielder Brent Macleod and Jake Carmody, a key forward from Colac, to join club next season.
Ocean Grove welcomes back Corey Walter after a stint with Bell Park, while Liam Rock, James McTaggart and Travis Gavin have re-committed to Ocean Grove in 2017.
“Obviously my plan when I arrived at the club was to firstly follow the same model at Colac – was try and get all the good Ocean Grove kids back to the club,” said Lynch, who coached Colac to its first ever GFL senior flag in 2014.
“Then look at it and see what we really need or what we identified we needed for the football club to be successful – one of them was midfielders to help James (Linton) and the other one was key forwards to complement the small forwards they have got.
“Macleod fits that bill as a midfielder and Jake (Carmody) is obviously a key forward.”
Lynch confirmed the Grubbers would commence their pre-season schedule on Thursday 24 November with a joint session with the Ocean Grove senior netballers.
Ocean Grove will revert to a Monday and Wednesday training schedule from 28 November in the lead up to Christmas throughout December.
