The Lions are taking old and new faces into its upper echelon among the squad in seeking to improve on a straight-sets departure from the Goulburn Valley League finals series in 2023.
Lachlan Waite is again co-captaining the side, although he will miss the Lions’ April 6 opener at Tatura through suspension from last year’s finals.
Waite, who remains as head coach of Seymour’s under-18 side, is once again accompanied as co-captain by Dylan Scopel.
Long-time servant Scopel is focused solely on the senior football side of things, but the club recognised his service with a club life membership after reaching 200 games played.
The Lions’ 2024 leadership group also includes Jack Murphy, Huw Jones, Nick Dundon, Seamus Feery, James Wooster and Ben Cooney.
Young defenders Wooster and Cooney are the new faces among Seymour’s contingent.
In a statement, Lions boss Ben Davey paid tribute to the club’s leaders.
“We’re delighted to have a group of incredibly well-respected men leading our club again in 2024,” he said.
‘’Lachlan Waite stepped up and did a great job last year alongside Dylan Scopel and has taken on the extra responsibility as our under-18 seniors coach.
“Dylan hit the 200-game mark of the club, has been a great player over a long period of time and is now a Lions and GVL life member.
“We’re incredibly lucky to have two fantastic leaders to support our whole playing group in their on and off-field development.”
The Lions were the only GVL side to knock off eventual premier Echuca in 2023, finishing second after a 16-2 record in the home-and-away season.
The magic was gone by September, though, exiting finals disappointingly with losses to Echuca and Euroa in succession.
In the wake of an overall strong year, Wooster and Cooney get their first chances to make an impression as club leaders.
“Both James and Ben play crucial roles in our backline and have a high level of senior football experience despite their young ages,” Davey said.
“Their elevation gives us not just a great spread in terms of styles and age but also covers all areas of the ground.
“We do have quite a young group, so we’ll be looking to keep elevating future leaders of the club.
“Everyone is raring to go for 2024. We can’t wait for next weekend.”
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