The Tallangatta and District Football League has lost its best player from last year.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Barton medallist Lee Dale has joined NEAFL outfit, Southport Sharks.
“He’s an inside midfielder and that’s all we need,” Sharks’ general manager of football operations Jarrod Field said.
“We need some guys to go in with some experience and we’ve really only targeted blokes who’ve played AFL, VFL or SANFL.”
Dale claimed last year’s Barton Medal, polling 27 votes to win from Thurgoona premiership player Aydan Brown.
He won Myrtleford’s best and fairest in 2012 and has spent time with VFL clubs, Northern Bullants and Werribee.
Brent Lillis will coach the club this year.
Lee Dale will not only be missed at club level, but also in the representative scene.
He was the TDFL’s standout in its heavy loss to the Hume Football League.
Yackandandah missed finals, as did the Sharks, who finished second-last in the strong NEAFL, which includes the four reserve grade teams of AFL outfits Sydney, GWS, Brisbane and the Gold Coast Suns.
“We went pretty hard to get Andrew Swallow from North Melbourne and missed out, so the midfield was an area we needed to improve on,” Field said.
“He’s one of the three or four blokes that we’ve bought into the club that we want to get through our midfield.”
The Sharks also signed some ex-AFL players.