Scoop: Howdy Rohan, the vibe around the Lakers feels like you’ve already won a few games given your busy off season - tell us about the big 4 you landed and what they’re likely to add to the group.
Rohan Brown: Not sure about that, I wish it was that easy, we are under no illusions that we have recruited really well and got a good list of new recruits, but I & we as a club know that this won't necessarily correlate with winning games of football in what is a really strong & competitive league.
Corey Rich - Inside mid who's leadership & knowledge has helped our group already, very driven in standards and loves a contest.
Will Fordham - The boys are already feeding off Will's standards throughout preseason, will add that class throughout our midfield and up forward. Looking forward to watching him play.
Jake Lohmann - We got a taste of Jake from last year, has helped myself and the group with structure & gameplan as my assistant coach, really driving the boys with standards and hard work. So good to have Lowie at home around the club full time.
Lewie Antonac - Great we were able to get Lewie, hasn't missed a beat since he signed and is very invested. Will really give us some class & midfield speed.
S: Do you foresee a spike in performance from the wider group simply being around an injection of top end talent?
RB: I would hope so, bringing in some top end talent should only make our group better I would hope. We are already seeing signs of improvement in little things like training standards, doing work outside of time at the club and how they are presenting themselves. We have retained all but 1-2 senior players so we also need to keep improving as a whole to give us our best chance of winning games of football.
S: What are the realistic goals of the group moving forward? Is there an overall theme or message you want the boys to align with?
RB: We have said for a few years now we are sick of being just competitive and known as that team "having a crack". We want to win games of footy like everyone else. Our boys are such a close group we have seen that with retainment and investment into this year already, everyone is a piece in our puzzle, it's how we complete it now.
S: Given a tough couple years on the win/loss front, do you feel like it’s a clean slate/new beginning for the club - where do you think the club is at for the here and now?
RB: We have taken away so many learnings about the last few years and are under no illusions about where our club is at. It's a such a very competitive league with some great players running around and great coaches leading their clubs. I would be thinking everyone is excited to see what their group can do leading into 2026. We are coming from a fair way back as results indicate so we will trust our plans and group to turn the win/loss front into a positive result. In terms of here & now, yep I will be disappointed if we can't win games of football given our improvement within and players that have been bought into the system.
S: What roles do you think Joel O'Connell, Timmy Collins and Angus Gove will fill given the arrivals are likely to spend high minutes through the midfield?
RB: It will be great to get these three boys plus many more some help. Joel will be still inside but will be able to get a rotation and not have to shoulder the workload, may even be able to get a look at him in a different position potentially, Timmy the same I see him really having a big year and will spend a bit more time forward, Angus has had one of the best preseasons I've seen from a player in years and will be ready to play anywhere. Will have a really important role to play across half back.
S: Ruckman Tom Zampatti has had wretched run of injury bereft of any real continuity - how’s his body holding up, I imagine like many of the boys he has a spring in his step ahead of the new season?
RB: Tom has had a bit of an interrupted preseason with surgery at the back end of the year. Has worked really hard with his rehab and will be right to go for the practice matches and season start. Will be great to get him some help with Jackson O'Brien continuing to develop. All of our boys have come back in great shape, we have got Wes Carter into our program as our Head of Strength & Conditioning and he has done an enormous job with the group. It's one of the better pre-seasons I've seen from a group and we are looking forward to getting into more match sim & practice matches.
AREAS OF IMPROVEMENT
RB: Forward half scoring and connection
INS & OUTS
In: C. Rich (Wodonga) W. Fordham (Wodonga), J. Lohmann (Werribee VFL), H. Hicks (GWV Rebels), S. Haywood (Sandringham Dragons/Beaumaris), K. Constable (Bendigo Pioneers), B. O’Kelly (Mt Clear). L. Antonac (St Joeaephs), A. Jamestrom (Frankston VFL/Old Brighton VAFA)
Out: J.Wright (Queenscliffe) B. Ryan (Buninyong), L.Koliba (Macedon)
VFL AFFILIATED PLAYERS
Lewie Antonac (Geelong)
PRACTICE MATCH SCHEDULE
March 5 - Bungaree v Lake Wendouree (Night)
March 14 - Grovedale vs Lake Wendouree
March 28 - Lake Wendouree v Donald (VTBD)
CLUB IMPROVERS TIP
RB: North Ballarat
Flag tip
RB: Darley
SCOOP SAYS
Exciting times ahead for the Lakers following the acquisition of genuine top end talent.
Coach Rohan Brown would be the first to concede they need it if they’re to climb off the bottom of the BFNL ladder.
With just four wins from their last 50 games it will be interesting to see how much ground the Lakers can make up on the back of those key signings.
Brown won’t know himself working in unison with the new comers, nor will tireless ruckman Tom Zampatti and reigning club best and fairest Joel O’Connell.
Will the hype and promise around the Lakers equate to more honourable losses or can they scare a few and win a handful of games?
League followers more broadly should be pumped the Lakers are on the march, shredding the ‘easy beats’ tag of more recent times in the process.
Given the Lakers' compelling injections into the midfield, the natural spill should aid defence stocks minimising scores against well under 2025's average of 128 points per game.
The biggest concern for the Lakers looms as their ability to score (avg. 46 ppg in 2025). Will Clark was their leading goalkicker in 2025 with 12 (comp rank 46).
A projected spike with inside 50 numbers won’t do them any harm.
Projected finish: 9th-10th
