The Werribee Devils State Championship Men’s team will be looking to bounce back from a disastrous 2015 campaign which yielded just five wins and left the Devils down the bottom of the Big V ladder. Depth was the main problem. The majority of the workload was left to the top three or four players without much support, and they paid the price.
It was clear that change was needed. Coach Mark Hughes, who had been involved in some capacity for the previous five seasons, stood aside and former Devils player and assistant coach Mike Czepil was appointed head coach soon after the 2015 season ended.
The Devils have retained a handy core of their 2015 roster. MVP Jordan Hughes had a stellar season, averaging 19.6 points, three assists and seven rebounds in 24 games. Jonathan Sonda (9 ppg, 2 apg, 7 rpg in 20 games) also returns, along with defensive keys Anthony Luxford (5 ppg, 2 apg, 2.5 rpg in 24 games) and Nick Morda (4 ppg, 2 apg, 3 rpg in 24 games). Corey Wright and Justin Ward are also back on board.
New coach Mike Czepil has recruited well, adding some international flavour to the Devils list including US import Jeremy Smith and Canadian big man Evan Matthews who, as the Devils tallest player at 205cm, will be working hard in the paint.
To read more about new Devils Jeremy and Evan:
* Evan Matthews Becomes a Devil
* Jeremy Smith Becomes a Devil
Devils stalwart Dion Jewell has returned home after winning the State Championship Men’s title with the Corio Bay Stingrays in 2015. Jack Macdonald also joins the list, along with development players Josh Toniato, who averaged 7 points, 2.5 assists and 4 rebounds with the Werribee Youth League Men in 2015 and Woodville tall Tomi Ayilara, who will definitely benefit from the experience.
Aaron Bensted will be assisting Czepil and the on-court leadership group will be made up of captain Dion Jewell and his vice-captains Evan Matthews and Jordan Hughes.
The Devils had an interrupted pre-season. While they had practise matches against Melton, Corio Bay and the Geelong Supercats, they only got their full roster together last Monday, so it’s hard to read anything into these results. Individual workouts began a couple of times a week back in September.
Czepil is pleased with the commitment from the group and says they are all noticeably better players now than they were six months ago. He added:
“I am very excited to be coaching this group in 2016. We have a good blend of local talent that we have complemented with some carefully selected recruits from around the world. We know that for us to do what we say we want to do we have to be committed to the defensive side of the ball. We have spent a great deal of time identifying how we will win games defensively and the boys are looking forward to getting that to the floor this weekend. The message all preseason is that we have to be in a constant state of improvement. We have to continue to evolve through the season and get better with each practice and each game.”
The lads will again front up in State Championship Men in 2016, which has gone from 13 to 12 teams with the departure of Sherbrooke and Melbourne and the addition of Knox Raiders. The Devils open their season on Saturday night March 19th at home against Hawthorn Magic.
Related stories:
A New Era For Werribee Devils (Star Weekly)
Number
|
Name
|
Height
|
Position
|
3
|
Evan Matthews
|
6'9"
|
Forward
|
4
|
Jeremy Smith
|
6'4"
|
Guard
|
5
|
Nick Morda
|
6'3"
|
Guard
|
6
|
Jack Macdonald
|
6'0"
|
Guard
|
7
|
Jordan Hughes
|
6'3"
|
Guard
|
9
|
Jonathan Sonda
|
6'3"
|
Guard/Fwd
|
10
|
Anthony Luxford
|
6'0"
|
Guard
|
11
|
Dion Jewell
|
5'11"
|
Guard
|
22
|
Justin Ward
|
6'4"
|
Forward
|
24
|
Corey Wright
|
6'3"
|
Forward
|
Josh Toniato
|
Development
Spot
|
||
Tomi Ayilara
|
Development
Spot
|
||
Michael Czepil
|
Head
Coach
|
||
Aaron Bensted
|
Assistant
Coach
|
||
Dion Jewell
|
Player/Coach
|
||
Sam Morda
|
Manager
|
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