NPL men's Northern NSW champions Lambton Jaffas have secured nine recruits from Cooks Hill to help fill the void left by the departure of six top-grade regulars, including influential No.10 Mitch Rooke.
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The shock sacking of coach Shane Pryce, just eight days after the Jaffas' 1-0 grand final win over premiers Maitland, to make way for the return of David Tanchevski at the helm has led to a major revamp of their roster.
Tanchevski, who steered Jaffas to NPL grand final victory in 2014, coached Cooks Hill to ninth in their first season in the Northern NSW top-flight this year.
He has inherited a squad which has lost Luke and James Virgili to retirement, Tom Waller and Finn Parris, who are having a season off, as well as Andrew Pawiak and Rooke.
Rooke has joined Bentleigh Greens in the Victorian NPL, while Pawiak has signed with Edgeworth.
Coming from Cooks Hill are Jon Griffiths, Sam Webb, Riley McNaughton and youngsters Pat Bond, Josh Benson, Bailey Newton, Finn Todhunter, Jagger Wholert and keeper Ryan Furness. Tanchevski has also secured attacker Charlie Kelly from the Jets program.
The departures will be a major blow to Cooks Hill, who had already lost marquee signing Jacob Pepper to Edgeworth for 2023.
Defender Griffiths was Cooks Hill's players' player this year, while Webb (seven goals), Benson (six) and Newton (five) were their leading scorers.
As well as the recruits, Jaffas should have former player of the year Scott Pettit back from a year off following knee surgery.
Senior players returning include grand final scorer and man of the match Kale Bradbery, skipper and keeper Ben Kennedy, Ben Hay, Reece Papas, Luke Remington, Josh Piddington and Matt Hoole.
Tanchevski was pleased with the recruitment drive so far to replace the established players who had left.
He was backing Webb, who came from Maitland to Cooks Hill early last season, to take over from former Jets flyer James Virgili in attack, while the experienced Griffiths and young centre-back Bond would cover Luke Virgili's spot in defence.
He was also excited to see Todhunter step up in the role left available by Rooke's exit.
Tanchevski believed Todhunter, a late-season addition to Cooks Hill from the Jets program this year, could become "one of the best 10s in the comp" next season.
"He changed our dynamic at Cooks Hill in the second half of the season," he said.
"He was a big reason for us doing well in games, just connecting the front line really well and he scored goals as well."
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Craig Kerry
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
Craig Kerry is a sports reporter for the Newcastle Herald.
