RIVERINA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
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A QUIET off-season at Leeton-Whitton has not dampened the enthusiasm of Crows coach Damian Lang ahead of the upcoming Riverina Football League (RFL) year.
It has been an unusually quiet summer at Leeton Showground as the Crows, like many other RFL clubs, have struggled to attract any marquee recruits.
Leeton-Whitton has been able to boast the re-signings of Ben Curley, Will Overs, Joshua King, Cal Garvey and Jarrod Gornall, among others.
The Crows have also been able to attract representative Coleambally forward Kodie O'Malley and his younger brother Corbin to the club.
Leeton-Whitton also remains in talks with several other prospective recruits but Lang is happy with the squad he has to work with regardless of any developments in coming weeks.
"Training is going pretty well," Lang said yesterday.
"We're getting good numbers and as you do this time of year, it's all about putting in the hard work.
"The advantage of being in the role for the past 12 months is that we know how we want to play and we can get into that straight away at training.
"The guys know what to expect, we've just got to get better, fitter and stronger."
The Crows' forward line was a problem for Lang at different stages of last year and it has lost young forward Grant Commins to university and Matt Robertson to retirement.
Leeton-Whitton will regain Joshua King from injury to allow he and fellow ruckman Cal Garvey to rest at full-forward.
Lang said the Crows are still trying to get another forward to the club.
"We're still after a key forward," Lang said.
"We'd like to get our hands on someone who can kick 60 to 70 goals a season.
"If we don't get someone then we've still got the likes of Will Overs, Kodie O'Malley, Josh King and Brad Boots plus plenty of on-ballers that can rest forward.
"We don't have a lot of depth in the forward line but in saying that we've got a lot of depth in the midfield."
Leeton-Whitton has lost best and fairest winner Bryce O'Garey to Tasmania, along with Matt Flagg, Ben Evans, Kabe Stockton and Reece Maguire to Barellan.
Robertson and Broadbent have retired, while Commins has moved away to university.
Aside from the O'Malley brothers, the Crows have high hopes for the club's juniors coming through with Lang naming Thomas Meline, Lachlan O'Callaghan and Jacob Hopper as three teenagers to watch.
Leeton-Whitton will again take part in the Barooga Night Series as it attempts to defend its title from last year.
The Crows will play games on March 8 and March 15 with a possible final on March 22.