Angus Campbell and Jack Noonan return to Koroit for 2024 season

Angus Campbell (Merrivale) and Jack Noonan (Dennington) - both under 18.5 teammates at Koroit in 2018 - have signed on at the Saints after making a mark in the WDFNL in recent years.

Campbell has spent the past four seasons with the Tigers, playing 50-plus games at senior level and featuring in the club's 2023 grand final side which fell short against Nirranda.

He appeared twice at senior level for the Saints in 2017.

Noonan has been with the Dogs the past two campaigns, notching 24 games at the top level.

The pair departed during a period where senior opportunities were hard to come by at the club with Koroit coach Chris McLaren saying they were keen to test themselves in the Hampden league.

Before the 2023 season, the Saints had won the past seven premierships.

"Possibly when they finished their juniors at Koroit, possibly those guys they look at the team and think 'there's probably not a lot of opportunity for me as an 18-year-old'," McLaren told The Standard.

"You never want to lose them at the time but sometimes it's a blessing too that they think 'Koroit have been so strong so I'll go away and play some senior footy and come back and hopefully then be a senior player at Koroit', which I've got no doubt those boys will be."

McLaren said both recruits were "versatile".

"Jack can probably play a bit of wing, half-forward, half-back, whereas Gus is probably a small defender or midfielder," he said.

The Saints reached the elimination final this year in somewhat of a rebuilding campaign after some significant departures.

The club will be without James Gow (St Joseph's), Will Petersen (North Cairns Tigers) and Frazer Robb (considering Geelong-based outfits) in 2024 but WDFNL league best-and-fairest winner Blair McCutcheon (Merrivale) has returned to the Saints where he is a three-time premiership player.

"Our first target for us is guys that have played footy for us in the past," McLaren said.

"Junior players or players we've had, so whether they're at a lower level or whether they've gone on to a higher level, you try and reach out to those guys every year. Some of them are a really quick conversation, it's a 'no, I'm really happy where I'm at' whether it's above or below the Hampden league.

"It's a first contact and it's out of courtesy a lot of the times. Quite often with those boys it's 'not yet, give us another year', it's an ongoing thing each year. I chat with those guys on a yearly basis ever since they went and had a crack at the district league and it's nice to have returning Koroit boys come back for sure."

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