FAST FACTS
COACH: KYEL BAIN 2022 FINISH: 13TH (1-13) 2022 BEST-AND-FAIREST: AARON LITCHFIELD 2022 LEADING GOAL-KICKER: RHYS KOMMERS (7) HOME GROUND: BLIGHTY RECREATION RESERVE NICKNAME: REDEYES
PLAYER CHANGES
Ins: Brock Thompson (Deni Rovers), Toby Kennett
Outs: Bailey Bourke
Blighty didn’t have the greatest 2022 season, winning just one game across 15 rounds.
However, it was one more win than the Redeyes’ dismal 2021 season, and the direction is trending the right way.
While Blighty coach Kyel Bain hopes the improvement is steeper than the last two seasons’ results might suggest, his aim for 2023 is to continue that improvement.
Bain is hoping acquisitions Brock Thompson (Deni Rovers) and Finley-based Toby Kennett will add more punch in the forward half, which only put 337 points on the board last season, with the latter also swapping into the midfield.
So far, the pre-season had been impressive, Bain said.
“It’s been real good, promising,” he said.
“Numbers have been pretty good for this time of year.”
Despite picking up two handy players, the Redeyes have lost Bailey Burke during the off-season, with a handful of juniors looking to push through to the senior side in 2023.
“We’ve got a few younger guys coming through in Henry Michaels and Kobey Baxter, coming up from the thirds who’ll look to play a lot of senior footy this year,” Bain said.
He also backed in his two big men to take the next step after seeing them on the park across summer.
“Captain Aaron Litchfield and Zac Thompson are both looking really good on the training track, with one playing in the ruck before swapping with the other at centre-half-back,” Bain said.
“It’s nice to be able to have both of them there. They’ve been looking sharp on the track.”
As for the season’s goals, Bain is trying to keep it simple.
“We just want to keep trying to improve. Hopefully we have a few more wins,” he said.