PORTLAND has announced its captains across their senior football and netball teams in the lead-up to tomorrow’s start to the Hampden Football Netball League season.

Veteran ruckman Ben Malcolm has stepped into the senior captaincy in light of Josh Edwards being ruled out for the 2023 season with an ACL tear, while on the netball side of things Remy Grant has retained her post as Open captain for this season.

Grant said her and the rest of the team have finished up what’s been a long preseason, but one that she said the group has found enjoyable.

“Everyone’s been really involved and (new playing-coach) Laura (Kelly) has done a great job of incorporating netball early on in preseason rather than just fitness,” she said.

“We’re very excited to have her back at the club, she’s gained a lot of experience since she’s been away, and she’s brought a lot of that knowledge back to us which has been fantastic.”

The Open squad has seen its fair share of change over the offseason, with Grant saying she’s eager to see how the blend between new and returning players ends up impacting the team.

“We’re lucky to have Shakira Stuchbery coming across to play the full season with us, and Jasper Smith and Tonaya Bannam are both coming up and I think they’ll fit in nicely,” she said.

“It’s also exciting to have Brianna Malcolm come in to play a full season.

“It’s going to be really nice to have a full side and not be out there searching for players each week like we were last season.”

In what is Grant’s second season as captain after also previously fulfilling a player-coach role back in 2022, she said she’s looking forward to being able to place the emphasis on their performance on the court.

“Last season was really hard with the low numbers that we had and the search for fill-ins, but so far this season the numbers at training have been really good, everyone has been super supportive of one another and had the opportunity to have their ideas heard,” she said.

“It’s a great group of girls and I’m excited to see what we can achieve this season.”

Malcolm steps up

Ben Malcolm’s call-up to the role of senior football captain has come at short notice, with the Tigers left to find a new on-field leader after their incumbent skipper Josh Edwards was sidelined for the year due to injury.

However, the Portland stalwart said he’s keen to try and bring a new perspective to the role as his group looks to rebound after a challenging 2023.

“I’m definitely excited to see what I can bring to it, we’ve got a young group this season so I’m really trying to set the standards with how we want to go about things,” Malcolm said.

But while he’s been handed the responsibility of leading the group as a whole, Malcolm said he certainly won’t be alone in his role as a leader.

In addition to himself and playing-coach Lochie Huppatz, the side also has experienced heads Tom Sharp and Jake Wilson who will play a key role in mentoring the forwards and backs respectively for the season ahead.

And while Edwards won’t be able to take the field himself this season, his presence will still be felt amongst the senior group as he’s been named as a bench coach.

“With ‘Wilso’ being that general down back … ‘Sharpy’ taking care of the forwards and ‘Huppo’ working with the mids we’ve got plenty of leaders out there,” he said.

“Between us we’ll be sharing the responsibility… you’re not going to find too many high-calibre guys like them who have the experience they have.

“I’m excited to have ‘Huppo’ has the coach, he’s got some really solid gameplan in place and I think the focus for the whole group has to be buying in to what he has to offer.”

On a personal level, Malcolm said he’s looking forward to the opportunity to play a full season with the group after he missed the first half of 2023 and went without the benefits of a full preseason.

“I kind of had to battle through a fair few injuries after the previous season (2022), so I had to wait until my body was fully ready before I got back into it,” he said.

“I really enjoyed the back half of the year… the body is feeling really good now and I feel pretty fit… I’m keen to hopefully play some good footy and help the side win some games.”

Jones, Vallance take the reins in under-18s

Portland's under-18 footballers will be eager to build on the success they had in the second half of the 2023 Hampden Football Netball League season.

The team has selected co-captains to lead it in 2024, with last year’s under-18 best and fairest winner Kodi Jones to work alongside Kostya Vallance as the pair look to find both individual and team success.

Vallance said while the under-18s had a slow start to their preseason, they’ve built towards having strong numbers on the track as the season has gotten closer.

“We’re ready to hit the ground running (tomorrow),” he said.

Jones said a key goal for the group was to strive towards a finals appearance.

“Hopefully we can make a push towards finals this year, would also be nice to see some of the younger lads from the under-16s step up if needed when some of the lads hopefully go up and play seniors,” he said.

“That’s one of my personal goals as well is to play some senior footy.

“As a team we want to be up in the top five for most of the season, last year we had to make a late push and ultimately, we couldn’t quite get there, we don’t want the same again this season.

Vallance has already had his first taste of the senior level, as he featured in three Tigers senior games last season, and he said that experience would hold him in good stead for whatever this season has to offer.

“That experience was phenomenal, the pace of the game is so much quicker, I really learnt a lot from those opportunities and hopefully I can get back in the mix this season.”

Vallance worked as both a midfielder and forward across the past season, while Jones was used mostly as a forward option.

The pair both said they’re eager to learn off the experienced footballers playing in Portland’s senior side, with Jones praising the help Tom Sharp has given him in particular.

“He’s been a great mentor for me, just showing me the right way to lead and position myself it’s been really helpful,” he said.