The landscape of the Mininera and District football and netball league will be radically different in 2024 following the departure of several key players.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Ararat Eagles captain and two-time WJ Lewis Medal winner Jayden Wright will play with Lake Wendouree in the Ballarat Football League next season.
Meanwhile, two-time premiership player and coach Zoe Astbury and her partner Kieran Collins will play for Newlyn in the Central Highlands Football League.
Wright's move is a blow for the Eagles, who won the MDFL premiership in 2022.
The versatile footballer dominated the competition in the past two years, winning consecutive league best and fairest awards, and was Ararat's leading goal kicker in 2023.
The former-Ararat captain is not entirely new to Lakers, having been a regular on the training track at CE Brown Reserves while playing with the Eagles.
Wright played under-aged football with Ararat Rats in the Wimmera league, graduating from the under-17s in 2018.
Meanwhile, Collins joins the Cats in the CHFL as assistant coach.
The 25-year-old signed as part of a football/netball "package", with Astbury appointed the Cats' A grade netball coach for next season.
She coached Tatyoon to back-to-back MDNA A grade premierships.
Collins spent three years with the Western Bulldogs after being drafted from Dandenong Stingrays as a key defender with pick 26 in the 2015 AFL national draft.
MUST READ NEWS: Langi Kal Kal prison escapee arrested
Standing 193cm, he played just one AFL game in his first season. Collins was delisted at the end of 2018 and joined Northern Blues in the VFL.
He played his junior football with Langwarrin in the Frankston and District Junior League and represented Vic Country in the national under-18 championships.
Collins has played the past three seasons with Tatyoon, kicking 50 goals in 18 games this year.
