James Murphy
MILLICENT remains under the tutelage of three-time premiership coach Clint Gallio as it marches into the 2023 Western Border football season.
Gallio has led the senior team to the last two consecutive A Grade titles, while the first success with him at the helm broke the club’s 34-year drought back in 2018.
Now the question remains, can the Saints go for the three-peat?
Gallio said preseason had gone well and everyone was fit and ready to go for Round 1.
“We have had a good buy in from the group again and overall I would say it has been a pretty successful preseason,” he said.
“We have been working on a few things which we thought were a weakness last year.
“I think everyone is just ready to play now.”
There have been some movements in the off-season and Millicent will be without a few key players.
Tom Hutchesson and Dylan Bromley have both left the club in favour of Mid South Eastern Football League pursuits, while young-guns Frazer Bradley, Eli Redman and Kalan Shanks have moved on to test their talents at Glenelg.
The remainder of the roster should look same, with a handy pickup in Micah Rupcic.
“(Rupcic) is a new fella and he has just moved to Beachport with his family,” Gallio said.
“He used to play in the Hills and is going to be a handy addition for us.”
There has been a keen focus on junior talent at Millicent over recent years and that is expected to continue this season.
“We have had a couple come in and some other kids stepping up,” Gallio said.
“Hamish McRrae and Jack Verbena are both junior footballers of Millicent and they are going to play again.”
Gallio said Millicent’s game style should remain the same, with hopes to use its good runners inside and outside the contest.
However, there has been a focus on defence leading into this campaign.
“We have been concentrating on some defensive stuff that we wanted to improve on,” Gallio said.
“That has been working really well and hopefully we can cause some turnovers from that.”
The Saints have had a couple of preseason hitouts, which Gallio said helped shed some light on areas for improvement.
“We had a trial game against Kalangadoo a few weeks back in Millicent and then Naracoorte a couple of weeks ago,” he said.
“We got touched up fairly well (by Naracoorte), they are a pretty handy side.
“That was really good for us to really test us out and play against a high-quality team with some real high-quality players in it.
“We found some things out we need to improve on which was a bonus.”
Despite their losses, the Saints have plenty of depth at their disposal and have still retained some talented youngsters.
“Kade Varcoe and Josh Werchon are two that come to mind,” Gallio said.
“They are only 19 years old and they have won a couple of grand finals now.
“They have had solid trainings and a lengthy period where they have been doing good work.
“Then there are a couple of young kids coming through who are going to get some opportunities and I am really looking forward to watching them play.
“Jacob Todd and Ashton Lindner will probably get a chance at some stage.”
When asked about the prospect of a three-peat, Gallio stressed it was still early days.
“We have done what we can and as the season goes on we will have to tweak a few things,” he said.
“We are not getting too carried away, but obviously you play footy to win a grand final, so that is the aim.
“Whether it is one in a row, your first one in 40 years or three in a row – I think you try to approach them all pretty similar and just try to keep improving.”
The Saints start their campaign with a Saturday night game under lights against East Gambier at McDonald Park, with the match to kick off at 5pm.
