RIVERINA FOOTBALL LEAGUE
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MANGOPLAH-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes has virtually secured the majority of its playing group as it bids to go one better in next year's Riverina Football League (RFL) premiership race.
The Goannas are yet to secure a coach to replace the retiring Nathon Irvin and president David Griffin yesterday remain tight-lipped on exactly where the club was at in that process.
Griffin issued a "no comment" when questioned about how close MCUE is to announcing a new coach.
He did have good news on the Goannas' playing list and indicated this season's prized recruits - Col Sanbrook, Mitch Daniher and Andrew Pettigrove - are likely to stay on for another season at MCUE.
"They're all good," Griffin said on Friday.
"It looks like other than Nic (Casey) and Nathon (Irvin), we'll have a similar side to last year.
"There has been a lot of interest in (Col, Mitch and Andrew), they've had approaches and are still receiving approaches from all sorts of areas.
"It's been an interesting process that's for sure."
The Goannas made serious inroads this year under Irvin.
They made it through to the club's first RFL grand final but went down to Collingullie-Ashmont-Kapooka by 13 points.
The club, as a whole, enjoyed a strong year.
All three football teams made it through to the grand final, but were unsuccessful, while MCUE went back-to-back to win the A grade netball premiership.
The Goannas also took out the A reserve netball title.
Griffin, who was re-elected president on Thursday night, wants to continue to move the club forward.
"It's all about consolidation more than anything else," he said.
"A lot of hard work has gone in to get to where we are so we've got to try and consolidate and maintain."
Coach Nathon Irvin and assistant Nic Casey are the only departures from the Goannas.
Daniher is believed to be attracting strong interest from Canberra NEAFL club Eastlake, while Sanbrook and Pettigrove are being pursued by a couple of Victorian clubs.