Tara Murray
Deer Park’s hopes of making an instant impact in the Essendon District Football League have been boosted with a number of key signings.
The Lions, who will play in division 1, announced the first of their new signings for this season in the lead up to Christmas.
Jackson Barling was the first player announcement for the Lions.
The former Sydney Swans academy player played 15 games in the Victorian Football League last year for the Northern Bullants and finished fifth in the league for tackles.
His Northern Bullants teammate Kobe Brown also joins the Lions.
Brown played just two games for the Bullants in 2022 due to injury, with the club’s announcement describing him as a dangerous small forward.
Midfielder Nash Holmes is another who brings VFL experience.
“Tough hard inside midfielder originally from Gippsland,” the Lions said on social media.
“Has a lot of VFL experience having played VFL for North Melbourne and was a regular in the midfield for Port Melbourne VFL last year.”
A trio of Sunshine players follow across new coach Heath Scotland, who coached the Kangaroos for the first half of last year.
Small forward Taygen Dennison, former VFL players Tom Mundy and Hisham Kerbatiah join the Lions.
Billy Drake is a key forward that joins the club from Ivanhoe Amateurs, having also played some VFL games for Collingwood.
Mick Edwards, who finished runners-up in the Riddell District Football League best and fairest award, crosses to the Lions from Riddell.
Edwards is currently doing a pre-season with the Northern Bullants.
Jacob Knight is hoping to have an impact at senior level, crossing from Point Cook.
He played with the Western Jets in the second half of the season, as reward for his form in the Bulldogs under-18s.
“We look forward to having Jacob join us officially as a player and watching him grow on field after being a regular fixture and us all watching him grow off the field over previous years,” the club said in its announcement.
