Wagga Brothers’ bid to return to finals football has been given another boost, with club junior Edd Ansell coming home.
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On the back of an already busy off-season for the club, Ansell decided to return to his roots following a season on the NSW south coast.
Brothers coach Ben Black declared the return of the versatile back a ‘bonus’ for a side already promising vast improvement.
“Really, really happy – obviously we didn’t expect Edd to come back,” Black said.
“He’s a very classy player.
“When he did leave a year ago he was one of our form players and it was hard to see him go, so to have him back it’s pretty special.”
Ansell gives Black options in the outside backs. Fullback or wing look the likely role given Brothers already have centre options in Ethan McKenzie and former Junee pair Connor McCauley and Peter Little.
Ansell, who captained Brothers under 18s to a Weissel Cup premiership in 2014, said it’s an exciting time to be back in the red-and-green.
“It’s going to be great to play with Pete (Little) – he’s been an exciting player for many years,” Ansell said.
“The rest of the boys bring a bit as well – we’ve got a few new forwards so hopefully they can get our roll-on going forward and give us more time to play off the back of it.”
Living in Wollongong last year, the 20-year old spent the season with Shellharbour City Sharks in Group Seven.
“It was a quick and fit comp. I wouldn’t say it was quite as big as Group Nine but it was definitely fast-paced,” he said.
He’s been buoyed by the positive feeling around the club in the pre-season, something echoed by Black who is entering his third season at the helm.
“We’ve been getting very good numbers to training,” Black said.
“We’ve got a lot of people on board and a bit of experience… hopefully it sets us up for a good season.”
Brothers have also signed Will Merritt and Patrick Sagigi (Junee) as well as Fijian prop Rulade Vuetivavalagi.