KOROIT is confident the signature of a proven ruck option can bolster its already booming key position department.
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The Saints have landed Strathfieldsaye premiership player Harry Crone and expect the 198-centimetre talent to offer even more flexibility to their senior side in the hunt for their seventh-straight Hampden league flag.
Saints coach Chris McLaren said Crone, who has shifted to the Koroit area with partner Claudia and daughter Winnie, was a quality person.
He said the 26-year-old would offer the club a different dynamic through the middle of the ground and forward of the ball.
He's essentially the same height as Jeremy Hausler but he's probably a bit more solid than Jezza, which will be good as he's potentially a different type of ruckman
- Chris McLaren
"He's essentially the same height as Jeremy Hausler but he's probably a bit more solid than Jezza, which will be good as he's potentially a different type of ruckman," McLaren said.
"He'll be a bit more a straight-ahead type of ruckman. He's played in a premiership in a major league (Bendigo Football Netball League) and he'll be awesome.
"With Jeremy and (Jarrod) Korewha and Sam Dobson and Ben (Dobson), it just gives us a lot of flexibility and firepower forward of the ball."
McLaren said Crone would allow Hausler to spend more time forward and add a different dimension to the Saints' forward line.
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"Whether it's been big Rhys Raymond, or Daniel Roache, or Ethyn Zimmer who has sort of played that role as a second ruckman to Jezza, we've been able to get him forward a little bit," he said.
"To pick up someone like Harry, who is only 26, he's probably about to head into the prime of his career in the next for years.
"We could potentially play Jezza as a permanent forward. We saw Korewha in the ruck this year was excellent and Jack O'Sullivan was well and truly an undersized ruckman but his contribution to us when Jezza and Jarrod were injured at different times was great."
McLaren said Koroit would start its pre-season on Monday night. He said the Saints would integrate with the club's under 23 side playing in the Let's Talk Cup.
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Nick Ansell
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
Nick Ansell is a sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard.
