Dimboola has landed its biggest off-season coup yet, with its coach lauding his latest recruit as "one of the best players to come to the league".
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Mitchell O'Donnell has signed with the Roos for next season, bringing with him six seasons of VFL experience.
The powerful midfielder was once vice-captain of Box Hill and played an integral part in the Hawks' 2018 VFL premiership.
Dimboola coach Justin Beugelaar - who played with O'Donnell for Waratah in the NTFL - said the signing would be a boost for the Wimmera Football League as a whole.
"To have a player of his calibre come up and decide to play it's going to be huge, not only for our football club but for the league itself," he said.
"it would be safe to assume he would be one of the best players to come to the league, having played in a couple grand finals with Box Hill. He would have been on an AFL list had he not got injured.
"To have the younger guys at the club learning off him, I think it's going to hold the club in good stead going forward."
O'Donnell garnered the nickname Bull for his destructive work in the midfield during his VFL career.
Beguelaar said the 27-year-old would slot in nicely in a Roos midfield group bolstered by several handy recruits.
"As his name suggests, he's a bull of an inside mid. He's a bloke you want around the footy; he'll just win you the pill," he said.
"That's where it's won; it's won in the clinches...Bullie is your standalone, absolute general in the midfield who will work really well with Matty Rosier.
" I thought (Rosier) really showed what he was capable of doing last year, but to have Bullie there as well to be able to take some of the midfield work will be really good.
"Then having Jacky Landt and Dylan Tarczon come in...they're goalkicking mids which is something we have lacked."
Beugeelar was hopeful the arrival of top-end talent would be beneficial for the Roos' younger brigade.
"It will be absolutely huge (the benefit), especially having blokes like Brock (Landt) come on who can really bridge the gap between the younger kids and the senior players," he said.
"A lot of these kids at Dimmy and around the league have just played country footy their whole lives. So to sort of open their eyes up to what the standard can be outside of that, it will really broaden their horizons."
While you're here...
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to the Wimmera Mail-Times, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling the Wimmera's story. We appreciate your support of local journalism.