Two of Echuca South’s pivotal players will be leading the side this season, with last season’s captain Jayden Rosin sliding into vice-captain duties while all-round powerhouse Rathika ‘Ricky’ Rajakumara will be coaching and captaining.
The Swans have been busy in the off-season, bringing in reinforcements locally and statewide to bolster their ranks ahead of a pivotal summer for A-grade.
While the club has lost one of its stronger young players in Tristan Watson, who has moved to Bendigo, the club has brought in Shaun Haffenen from Nondies-Cohuna, Simon Van Duinen from Bamawm-Lockington United and Sri Lankan-born Melburnian Satchin Peiris to shore up its list.
Rosin highlighted the strong commitment made by the playing group, with the Swans already months into preseason, and how critical Rajakumara’s leadership had been to start the 2025-26 campaign.
“Preseason has been great, we’ve been going pretty strong for a couple of months,” he said.
“We started preseason pretty early, so our teams have been up and about and having a hit for a couple of months now, so we’re pretty right to go for round one.
“Ricky (Rajakumara) has been really good, he’s been there every session as coach, he’s a good leader and well-experienced.”
Rosin emphasised the strong camaraderie at the club this season and how the group was determined to address its shortcomings from last season.
“Everyone’s fitting in really well, and it’s a good environment, it’s the best I’ve had at Echuca South for a while,” he said.
“We want to go all the way, our more experienced players are hitting the ball pretty well, so, hopefully, we should have a really good year together.
“We want to win as many games as we can win before Christmas to set us up, so, that’s the aim at the moment.
“We were all pretty disappointed to not play finals last year, and there were a couple of games before Christmas we threw away that we probably should have won.
“So, hopefully, we are not going to make that mistake this year and really knuckle down right from round one.”
21°C