Sport
7 February, 2026
City quartet on country road
BOORT football club has looked to Melbourne suburban leagues to replenish a list decimated by the departures of key players to the Loddon Valley competition.
As well, the Magpies will aggressively promote Under 17s into the senior side to balance a shrinking number of players on their list.
The Magpies have signed four players with metropolitan experience, including in the VFL, and are chasing still more as the North Central season approaches.
Coach Andrew Rutley, who was senior assistant to Dale Cameron last season, described the recruits as “very good footballers.
“We have lost quite a few but now we’re getting some back,” he said.
“We’re down in numbers, and as a result we will definitely be blooding some Under-17 boys.”
Mid-forward Danko Bzenic, 29, joins Boort from EDFL side Avondale Heights, where he was a best-and-fairest winner.
He represented Vic Metro in his junior days and played for Richmond in the VFL.
Another versatile utility, Liam Blanco, 27, also has experience with Avondale Heights and appeared last season with Elmore in the Heathcote District league.
Ruckman Connor Dalgleish, 29, comes to the Magpies from Montmorency in the powerful Northern FNL and played VFL football with Coburg after representing the Northern Knights in the elite Coates Talent League.
The youngest recruit is mid-forward Jackson Daley, 19, from Williamstown CYMS, where he played Under-19 football last season.
He comes from the Western Jets program in the Coates Talent League.
Boort was hit in the off-season with the loss of a string of key players.
Jhye Baddeley-Kelly, who won the club’s best-and-fairest in his two seasons with the Magpies and finished in the top three in the league award in both years, has transferred to Pyramid Hill in the Loddon Valley league.
Baddeley-Kelly, who kicked 73 goals last year as a mid-forward, followed former Boort captain Jarrod Fitzpatrick to the Bulldogs, where Fitzpatrick has been appointed senior coach. Experienced defender/midfielder Ryan McGhie and utility Fraser Millar also have moved to Pyramid Hill.
Last week, Alex Cockerell, who took out the North Central reserves best-and-fairest award in 2025, announced a switch to Macorna, the Loddon Valley league’s new club. Cockerell kicked 49 goals last season in 18 matches and is looking for senior opportunities with the Tigers.
Rutley said the exodus meant that fewer senior players would be available compared with last season, in which Boort finished fourth.
“It’s going to be touch and go to play reserves,” he said, noting that Under-17s would be called on to double up in the seconds after playing junior footy in the morning.
“And we’re still in the process of looking at another couple of players.”
Rutley said the team would play star juniors Cooper Gooding and Brodie McPherson in the senior team from round one, potentially with some other Under 17s.