Warrnambool's four newest recruits admit to feeling the bite of the city's sea breezes but assert it won't let it stop them from a having a red-hot crack at Hampden league football this year.
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Heath Morgan-Morris, Nick Hooker, Steven Lampton and Ryan Warfe will line up for Warrnambool in its 2023 season-opener against Portland on Saturday, fresh off playing in the Northern Territory Football League.
For Hooker, 23, and Morgan-Morris, 20, who originally hail from South Australia and Gippsland respectively, the cool winds aren't such a shock. But for Northern Territorians Warfe and Lampton, both 21, it's a little more striking.
"These boys didn't know what an electric blanket was," Hooker joked about Warfe and Lampton, who both bring speed and strong foot skills to the Blues. "It's definitely a temperature change but we're looking forward to the year. By the sounds of it we're going to have a pretty successful year."
The four footballers have relocated to Warrnambool after signing with the club earlier this year, with Hooker, Lampton and Warfe living together and Morgan-Morris staying with a host family alongside his partner. All four will work for Owen Truss.
Lampton and Warfe, who have been friends since year seven of high school, joked their friendship could be tested by both living and working together in Warrnambool. They agreed the experience of moving interstate was helped by having others in the same boat.
"It definitely makes it a lot easier coming down here knowing that you've got other people that are also coming down," Lampton said.
Meanwhile Hooker, who brings polish off the half-back, said the club had made the recruits feel welcome in their new surroundings. He said the lure of playing for new Blues coach Dan O'Keefe - who comes straight out of the AFL/VFL coaching ranks - was a key factor in him joining the club.
"What he brings to the club is unmatched in most country leagues," he said. "To have his coaching and expertise will take our standards to the next level."
Hooker said he was confident the Blues, who finished fifth in 2022, would be a strong outfit under O'Keefe's mentorship this year.
The Blues start their campaign with a road trip to Portland, with Morgan-Morris, a goal-kicker, excited to get stuck into the season.
"I think one of the boys mentioned, we (Warrnambool) lost both games to Portland (in 2022) so hopefully we win straight off the back," he said.
Meanwhile, Will Lord makes his club debut for the Blues, while ruck Dan Weymouth returns to the line-up after an injury-interrupted 2022.
Meg Saultry
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
Sports journalist at the Warrnambool Standard, with a strong interest in Australian rules football, basketball and women in sport.
