THE Essendon District Football League has contributed the majority of players for this season's Calder Cannons TAC Cup squad.
The Cannons will have a host of returning players in this year's team, minus last year's AFL draftees Jake Melksham, Anthony Long and Jake Carlisle (all Essendon), Daniel Talia (Adelaide) and rookies Robert Hicks (Richmond) and Thomas Hunter (Collingwood).
Greenvale was one of the major contributors from the Essendon league with four players, while West Coburg and Pascoe Vale have two each along with one each from Tullamarine and Oak Park.
VAFA team St Bernards was the biggest single contributor to this year's class of 46 with eight players, and the EDFL has 25 players in the squad.
Calder won last year's TAC Cup premiership, coming from sixth on the ladder to defeat Dandenong Stingrays in the grand final.
Cannons' coach Martin Allison said there were a few players and instances he was particularly pleased about with his final squad.
"A player I'm happy to see in there is Ozgur Uysal [Greenvale], he's one who can really show some flair and be a good forward."
Allison has high expectations for the collective skill level in his group this season, hoping to nurture some elite kicking talents.
"Kicking is somewhere we felt we needed to improve this season and it's something that we worked on during the season last year.
"We found with enough work we could improve our kicking and over the course of the season it can happen. By the grand final we had the kicking efficiency close to that of an AFL team."
Allison said he would be looking for his group to show a commitment to training and playing that would enable growth and improvement during the TAC Cup season.
The Cannons' first match of the season is against Northern Knights at Princes Park, Carlton, on Sunday, March 28.
CALDER CANNONS SQUAD
Ned Daniher, Renn Glassford, Alistair Kefford, Alexander McLeod (Aberfeldie), Jordan Angus, Todd Coran, Blair Cronin (all Doutta Stars), Dion Prestia, Michael Talia, Ozgur Uysal, Tallan Wright (all Greenvale), Osman Allouch, Jordan Iudica, Matthew Wallace, Nick Warren (all Keilor), Joshua Burgess, Cameron Guthrie, Jarrod Potter, Matthew Said (Sunbury Lions), Thomas Sheridan, Jason Williams ( Gisborne), Marcus Considine, Nick Robortella ( Moonee Valley), Jared Tydell, Matthew Watson ( Pascoe Vale), Harrison Huntley, Tom O'Loughlin ( Woodend), Benjamin Drummond, Brandon Ellis ( West Coburg), Jacob Dixon (Strathmore), Scott Atkinson (Tullamarine), Jack Kennedy (Oak Park), Jack Solomon (Maribyrnong Park), Brandon Hooper (Wallan), Hal Hunter (Collegians FC/Wesley College), Dylan Murphy (Rupertswood), Brandyn Grenfell (Seymour), Dale Frazer (Assumption College), Simon Caven, Thomas Liberatore, Luke Madden, Luke Mitchell, Jordan Schroder, Tom Sullivan, David Wall, Mitchell Wallis (St Bernards).
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