Talented Griffith footballer Taine Moraschi is excited to be making the move to Sydney after signing with UTS Bats for the upcoming season.
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Moraschi has been one of the brightest young talents in the Riverina League over the past couple of seasons and he said that he was excited to be joining the Bats this season.
"Yeah definitely, I can't wait," Moraschi said.
"Just with moving and then being lucky enough to play some good footy up there is even better.
"Doing what you really enjoy just adds a bit more excitement I reckon to the uni stuff as well."
Moraschi said that he will also be studying at UTS this year and he admitted that he had talked to a few clubs at the end of 2023 to work out where his new home would be.
"I was talking to the (GWS Giants) VFL coach and he recommended a few teams," he said.
"I went up late last year and I met with a few of them and I really liked the UTS coach Kevin Dyson.
"I really liked what they were building and the culture they have around the club, so that was the spot for me I reckon."
Moraschi played three VFL games for the Giants last season and he said that he thoroughly enjoyed the experience of playing state league footy.
"It was great," he said.
"It was a step-up with a lot bigger bodies but it was good fun.
"I thought I fit into the team pretty well and I had a few good games.
"I'm excited to hopefully do some more."
While yet to be officially organised, Moraschi expects to again play some VFL footy for the Giants this upcoming season.
Having had a taste of the step-up in competition last season, he said he was looking forward to testing himself against some of the best young players in the country in 2024.
"It's nearly the best footy you can play," he said.
"You are around all these people who are trying to make it and I think that's really good because it pushes you to play your best footy week in week out and do everything that you need to do to play your best footy.
"I'm really excited to test myself against all those players and see how I can go on a more weekly basis hopefully."
Moraschi had a stellar season in 2023 and he felt the VFL experience helped him reach new heights in his football for the Swans.
"Getting those VFL games in at the end of the year I thought was a great experience," he said.
"I learnt a lot doing that which helped me with training, playing, how to prepare and warming up.
"It really helped with all of my footy and that was really good."
The Swans had a successful season in 2023, returning to the finals and notching up wins against Ganmain-Grong Grong-Matong and Turvey Park to qualify for the grand final.
Despite then losing in the grand final, Moraschi felt it was a good year for the Swans who took some major steps forward in their development.
"It was a great year," he said.
"We had the Queanbeyan boys and it was unlucky to end up losing in the grand final.
"It's a bit heartbreaking but what can you do, we had a great year and I thought everyone had a real good crack."
Moraschi admitted it was a hard decision to leave the Swans following the grand final loss, saying that he initially had planned on staying with Griffith for 2024.
"For the first two or three weeks after the grand final I had it in my mind that I was going to stay," he said.
"It's definitely hard, but we gave it our best shot and unfortunately we fell just short."
