Sport
4 April, 2025
Midfielders grow Redbacks’ desire
WEDDERBURN finished third in coach Tom Metherell’s impressive debut season at the helm, but some key departures will test the Redbacks’ resilience in 2025. Star ruckman Jordan Hargreaves has departed for the Heathcote league, leaving a huge hole...
WEDDERBURN finished third in coach Tom Metherell’s impressive debut season at the helm, but some key departures will test the Redbacks’ resilience in 2025.
Star ruckman Jordan Hargreaves has departed for the Heathcote league, leaving a huge hole to fill.
Winner of the Feeny Medal for the league’s best-and-fairest in 2021 and a member of the North Central team of the year last season, Hargreaves at only 29 is reaching the prime years of his career and will be sorely missed.
Taking on the first ruck role will be veteran Adam Postle, assisted by rugby union convert Mark Robinson, who is 193cm tall and strongly built, but very raw and still learning the nuances of the game.
Robinson’s tap skills are excellent, but he will need to do more around the ground if he is to have a significant impact this season.
Wedderburn has also lost key forward Tom Campbell, who kicked 126 goals in the past three seasons, to Bendigo league’s Sandhurst.
Both Campbell and Hargreaves were named in the league team of the year, illustrating the task ahead of the Redbacks to replace them.
To try to balance the ledger, the Redbacks have not gone for like-for-like in their recruiting, instead targeting tough and talented midfielders as well as some solid defenders.
Ben Bacon is a massive unit off half back, while Jye Mortlock is a two-time senior flag winner with Natte Bealiba in the Maryborough Castlemaine league who captained his team to the premiership last year. The Redbacks are especially keen on the prospects of the Pallpratt brothers Jake and Zach, both of whom played in premierships last season in the Bendigo and Heathcote leagues.
Wedderburn also has welcomed back Dane Keuken, who finished second in the club’s best-and-fairest award after playing just seven matches in 2023.
It’s hard to single out one name from the many good signings for Wedderburn, but Mitch Jensen may go some of the way towards replacing Campbell’s impact.
Jensen, who was senior coach at Diggers Rest last season after captaining the club’s premiership side in 2023, played in a flag with Footscray in the VFL in 2014.
His resume is a solid one.
Jensen started out as a small defender and played for many years with Doutta Stars in the strong Essendon District Football League, and appeared in 16 games with the Calder Cannons in what was then the TAC Cup in 2013, being named in the best players on seven occasions.
He also played with Wangaratta in the powerful Ovens & Murray league.
Jensen is versatile and hard at it, making him a tricky match up in the midfield and especially in the forward line, where he has proven to be an excellent goal kicker in recent seasons.
And, in a strange twist of fate, he’s reuniting with the Redbacks nickname, having played for Romsey in the Riddell District League.
Wedderburn football club has been around since 1882, putting it behind only St Arnaud and Charlton in sporting longevity in the region.
The Redbacks joined North Central in 1950 after departing the Kerang league and won the flag the next season. It was another 17 years before they won another premiership.
The halcyon years for the club were from 2011-14, when Wedderburn won four successive titles, the league’s longest streak of premierships.
The last of them, astonishingly, was won by a rushed behind in the final seconds of extra time after the Redbacks were tied with Charlton at full-time.
The netballers, though, are the champions of the club in terms of premierships, with last season’s win being their 30th in 70 years of playing in the North Central region.
On the footy side, Alan Jackson holds the league record for goals in a season and in a match — 133 and 19 respectively in 1980.
At VFL/AFL level, honours go to Cresswell “Mickey” Crisp, who won two best-and-fairest awards at Carlton over 183 matches.
He played in the Blues’ 1938 premiership team and captained Victoria, as well as coaching Fitzroy.