Zebras sign on for 2023

23/01/2023

The Sandringham Football Club is pleased to announce the re-signing of Zebras Riley Virtue and Ben Mansfield and the new signings of Jordy Segar and Tom Blamires.

This will be the fourth year in the VFL system now for Riley Virtue and he definitely is physically very capable at playing at this level. He will look to cement himself with more football in 2023. Virtue will add plenty of grunt to the Zebras side, looking to add more physicality through the midfield and forward line. With a good pre-season under his belt, we hope to see him have a breakout season in 2023. 

Head Coach, Jake Batchelor speaks on the impact Riley has made this pre-season, 

"Virts finished off last season well with us and picked up this preseason where he left off. His improvement with his decision making without the ball has improved and we see him challenging for a midfield spot early."

Ben Mansfield has returned to pre-season heading into year two of VFL and has come back in great physical shape and his pre-season has reflected that. Mansfield adds another big body to our midfield and forward line. He will be pushing to get more VFL minutes this season. 

"Ben has come back to this pre-season a much better player and athlete. His increase in physical output has been really pleasing to see and it's allowing him to outwork his opponent, which will be important if he is to play in the midfield," says Batchelor.

Jordy Segar has applied his trade in the VAFA with Old Brighton after having a previous crack at VFL footy. He has taken big strides forward with his football overall.

Batchelor spoke of the signing, 

"Jordy missed out on a spot last year and had a great season at local level. He will provide a good balance of run and support as a high half forward but we also feel his 1v1 ability will allow him to vary up his position ahead of the ball". 

Tom Blamires is in his second year out of the NAB system with the Dragons. He had a crack last year at VFL and was a train on with with the Zebs. Blamires has been very persistent and improvement has been evident this off-season.

"Tom was another to not make our list last year and come back this year a better player. His agility and evasiveness around the contest will complement our inside players and we can see him playing a good role for us as a high half forward and wingman," says Batchelor.

We are looking forward to a big year in the VFL from each of these Zebras.

Written by Darcy Allen - Sandringham Football Club Media