By Jonty Ralphsmith
The Casey Cannons men’s major challenge this season will be filling the shows of Bryan Young.
A scoring machine who scored 35 goals in 18 games last season, he has gone elsewhere seeking opportunities to play at a higher level.
First-year coach Steve Noney was supportive of his decision and wants that to form part of the club’s blueprint under his leadership.
“It’s about developing players to go and enjoy their hockey,” Noney said.
“Players can go off and play at a higher level and know the club will always invite them back so we want to have players transitioning to the next level.
“We want to make sure they’re enjoying their hockey and getting rewards for the time and effort they put in.”
Nick McPhee is one player who the Cannons will hope can step up in the forward half.
A young striker dedicated to his craft, he worked closely with Young last year and has been a revelation in recent times with the opportunity to lead the attack now presenting itself.
Recruits Elliot Stephens and Gurdeep Singh will also help to fill the scoring hole.
The evergreen Matthew Light, meanwhile, is stable at fullback and contributes on the offence at short-corners.
The new coach has been team manager in recent years so is familiar with the way they have setup and is keen to maintain continuity and continue building on that style with his players.
“It takes time to develop a style so we want to introduce the new players into their roles and consolidate that through to the seconds team to give us more flexibility at selection,” Noney said.
“Everyone has a role to play and as a unit it is about developing more freedom.”
The coach added that he wanted the players to have a greater understanding of each other’s roles to improve synergy and individuals’ IQ on-pitch.
Coming off the back of some positive results in practice matches, the men’s season kicks off against Brunswick on 16 April at 2pm.
