Premiership trio Troy Selwood, Dom Gleeson and Mark Corrigan have all returned to help the Cats defend their crown, while a host of other regulars such as Jack Hollmer, Jaxson Barham, Ben Raidme, Andrew Banjanin, Robert Condy and Tom Maas will once again front up for the Cats.
Key defender Matthew Sully, Daniel Gibbs, Ben Capra and Mitch Herbison round out the list of players who have returned for another campaign.
With regards to the new recruits, a ‘homecoming’ of sorts has been completed for delisted AFL pair Piers Flanagan and Jai Sheahan, with the two former Geelong Falcons joining the club.
Flanagan, a former Geelong College student, was recruited to the Gold Coast Suns as an underage priority pick (17 year old) in 2010 and was part of the inaugural Gold Coast Suns list that played in the VFL competition in 2010.
After a number of injury setbacks, Flanagan played 3 AFL matches for the Suns in 2012 but was delisted at the end of the 2012 campaign.
After winning the 2011 Geelong Falcons best & fairest and leading goal kicker award, Jai Sheahan was taken at pick 6 in the 2011 AFL rookie draft and went onto play 15 matches with the Melbourne aligned Casey Scorpions last year.
Sheahan was used in a number of roles different throughout the year and appeared in the best players on 6 occasions.
2012 Gippsland Power best and fairest winner Ryley Hall, Modewarre’s Dane McFarlane and Geelong Falcon’s pair Tom Gribble and Zak Sherman have all been selected in the squad of 21 players and are all eligible to play 3 games each under the 23rd player rule.
McFarlane, a leg-spinner from Geelong Cricket Club, has been something of a bolter over the pre-season and looks set to make an impact with his blistering speed.
Dual Bellarine Football league premiership midfielder Daniel Measures (Queenscliff) and GFL premiership defender Mitch Fisher complete the list of new recruits to the squad.
A number of the players who missed out on selection the squad of 21 have been invited to form part of a development squad and regularly train with the VFL program. The additional squad will better prepare the Cats for the four changes they can make throughout the course of the season.
Premiership pair Andrew McLean and Darcy Holden, midfielder Casey Tutungi, former rookie Ben Johnson and Lara sharpshooter Jack Shannahan are among the notable departures from last year’s squad.
The 2013 squad is as follows (with Interchange Clubs): Troy Selwood (Newtown), Dom Gleeson (Koroit), Jack Hollmer (Lara), Jaxson Barham (Lorne), Piers Flanagan (Newtown), Jai Sheahan (Newtown), Mark Corrigan (South Barwon), Robert Condy (St Mary’s), Tom Maas (South Barwon), Matthew Sully (Newtown), Ben Raidme (South Barwon), Daniel Measures (Queenscliff), Zak Sherman (St Mary’s), Andrew Banjanin (St Mary’s), Daniel Gibbs (Queenscliff), Ryley Hall (Grovedale), Tom Gribble (Geelong West-St Peter’s), Ben Capra (St Joseph’s), Dane McFarlane (Modewarre), Mitch Herbison (South Barwon).
