Bulls to charge

By Gavin Staindl
THE West Gippsland Cricket Association finally starts on Saturday and there is no mistaking who the clubs think will take out the Premier Division premiership for 2010-11.
CARDINIA has been confidently backed by every club to go one better than last year – every club apart from Cardinia itself.
“We don’t see it like that at all,” Cardinia coach Mark Cooper said on the eve of round one. We finished second last year and there are still a few areas that we need to improve on … we still have a lot to prove.”
According to Cardinia president Chris Remy, the loss to Kooweerup last year has been talked about “quite a bit” by the players over the off-season and will be an added motivation when they walk out to play Officer this weekend.
But opposition teams must be worried, especially after Cardinia’s productive off-season.
The Bulls have enlisted the help of Matt Celima to take on an assistant coaching role, while the recruitment of Neil Barsuss will add depth to cover the loss of Adam Hobson.
Standing in the way once again will be KOOWEERUP, the team that denied the Bulls back-to-back premierships last year.
Kooweerup has also maintained a recruiting off-season to match the activity of their grand final rivals.
The Paterson brothers, Leigh and Andrew, are established all-rounders and are expected to slot comfortably into the Kooweerup first XI.
President and club legend Matt Davey believes the only thing preventing the club from going back to back is itself.
“We’ve had a few guys turn up not quite fit,” Davey said.
Apart from a few added kilos, the first XI is the same-look team which took out the Premier grand final last season and Davey expects the same can be achieved this season.
Although narrowly missing out on a grand final appearance last season, OFFICER is tipped to be among a few teams fighting relegation this time around.
The Bullants have been hit hard with key departures including the Savage brothers, Coel Tucker and Michael Torney.
Officer will now rely on its brigade of under-17s to fill the void left by the departing generation.
UPPER BEACONSFIELD is the new kid in town and are already looking towards permanent residency after finally being promoted into the Premier Division.
When Beaconsfield walks out to face Tooradin at Rutter Park on Saturday, it will be the first game the Maroons have played in WGCA’s highest division in almost five years.
The Maroons were all set for promotion to A Grade when it won the B Grade title in 2008-09 but the revised formatting meant they would remain in the District division.
But the Maroons were not to be denied and they took out the District premiership the following season to secure their path into the Premier division.
Upper Beaconsfield president Glenn Kilburn said it had been a challenging two years, but now they were here to stay.
“It has been a big effort to get here (Premier division), but I’ll be pretty disappointed if we do not make finals,” Kilburn said. “We think we’ve got a really good chance. We’ve played Cardinia twice in the past two years in Twenty20 and we’ve pushed them all the way, so it shows we can match it with the best.”
TOORADIN, meanwhile, has been hurt by key departures and it will look to untried youngsters to keep it in the Premier Division.
Steve Hamill and Daniel Hunt have pulled out of this season because of personal commitments while Matt Finch will make fleeting appearances in between stints in the navy.
While Tooradin will retain Callum O’Hare as a batter, the club’s leading Premier wicket taker from last year is not expected to bowl a single ball this season as he continues to recover from a knee reconstruction.
Regardless, Tooradin president Barry Freeman believes with the inclusion of Ricky Holland and Sam Clarke, his team will be “around the mark”.
CATANI is another side tipped to be around the mark.
With the appointment of well-known local David Williams as coach, Catani will retain all but one member from its side who finished sixth last year.
But if it suffers injuries and departures during the year it could have the potential to destabilise the club that, as president Bruce McFarlane admitted, is “struggling a bit for numbers”.
After finishing fourth last season and with more inclusions this season, PAKENHAM UPPER/TOOMUC will look to become the main challenger to threaten Kooweerup and Cardinia at the top of the table.
Paul Gramc, Dean Blake and Liam Tooley will slot in nicely among a list brimming with experienced youth.
The trio will face BEACONSFIELD, a team looking to return to the glory days of five years ago, at Perc Allison Oval.
After multiple years hovering in the shadows of the top four teams, Beaconsfield will look to be a finals contender once again this season.
At the District Division, the relegated NAR NAR GOON/MARYKNOLL will join Tooradin as the newcomers to the division.
Tooradin has been bumped up from the Sub-District Division and will replace Kilcunda Bass in the higher division.