By Tara Murray
Things are slowly starting to heat up at Albion in the Western Football League division 1 pre-season.
After two straight division 2 grand final losses, the Cats have taken a bit more time to get into the pre-season.
Coach Blake Richards said things were slowly starting to step up.
“It’s nice to be back out there,” he said. “After two grand finals the past couple of years we haven’t had a lot of break.
“It does take a fair bit out of you.
“We came back a week later than usual. The numbers aren’t where I want them to be, but they are getting there.
“It will build quite quickly.”
Richards said this year’s grand final defeat hurt more than the one in 2023.
In 2023, they nearly snatched the win from Parkside. This year, they were undefeated heading into the grand final against Sunshine.
Richards said they had tried to let the group process the loss before focusing on the new challenge of going back into division 1.
The Cats, Sunshine and Newport were all guaranteed promotion into division 1 before the finals series.
All but one player from the Cats grand final side has returned for 2025. Amar Elnour has made the move to St Albans.
Most of the squad had re-signed before the grand final, while their reserves also made the grand final.
“A lot of sides that go up after not winning a flag lose a few players,” he said. “Our players are loyal to the club.
“With most of the list signed before the off season. We’ve been able to recruit well because of it.
“The list was settled and we could get recruits in who we’re really happy about.”
Richards said they had looked to target the 18-28 age group for their recruits.
They’ve announced 10 so far with a couple more to come.
“We don’t have any under-18s so we need to get some younger guys through the doors,” he said.
“We’ve managed to get a few one-pointers back in the doors. We got two from Sunshine including Kane Holden won the competition medal and had played a lot of junior football at the club.
“His family is pretty happy.”
Other signings include Jack Bettin, whose father played at the club, Blake Taylor who crosses from Essendon Doutta Stars, Victorian Football League-listed Heath Ollington, Tyler Black, experienced forward Judd Brewster and Maysen Murgov.
