By Trevor Jackson
THE East Gambier Football Club continues its two-coach set up for the 2024 Limestone Coast Football League season, with Keith Ransom and Jake Dowdy both back on deck.
According to Ransom the scenario worked well last season and he doesn’t see any reason it will not this year.
“I have known Jake for a while and he is a nice lad,” he said.
“We got on really well last year and I think that is the key.
“We had a good chat before last year and things worked well.
“It is a good combination and we constantly discuss what we want to do.”
To add to the club’s youth, a few more experienced players have returned to the club, which should provide a good balance on the ground.
Matt Ferguson, Kev and Luke Thomson, plus Beau and Jeremy Nunan will again pull on the Bulldogs guernsey.
“It is good to see the guys who have left, return to the club,” Ransom said.
“It puts the club in good stead.
“I think the young guys have heeded to what we are trying to achieve, so we we just have to get some more games under their belts.
“Kev is very experienced around goals, Ferg may start across half back – his experience there is good and his disposal is excellent.
“Luke can play various positions around the ground which is handy.”
Ransom also mentioned a few Reserves players who have committed to senior football this season.
“Connor Barry, Alex Dethmore and Ben Gaffney should have pushed for A Grade last year,” he said.
“They showed a lot of potential last year, but weren’t training.
“They just showed up and played, but now they have committed to playing senior footy, which is what we are after.”
As for the 2023 results, Ransom said they were disappointing in certain areas, but did show some positive signs moving forward.
“I think there were about five or six games we lost by under 10 points,” he said.
“The injuries we suffered hurt us, but going forward I think everyone, including the coaching staff, will learn a lot from last year on where we need to improve.
“When you look at last year’s results, a lot of that happened in the last quarter.
“That came down to player management on my part because the rotations through the mid-field weren’t there.
“Hopefully this year will have up to seven players we can rotate through there.”
Since his return to East Gambier to coach, Ransom has place huge importance on the development of the young players coming through the club.
Nothing has changed this season and he hopes to reap the benefits in the short term.
“I said from day one I wanted to persist with the junior development, from Under 14 right up,” he said.
“A lot of clubs struggle and if you don’t have that junior development you are in trouble.
“I think we have to enhance that to move forward.”
