GSFL 2024: Railways look to counter vast amount of games experience lost in bid to remain a flag challenger

Youth exposure and challenging for another premiership is the balancing act for Bodhi Stubber ahead of his first season at the helm of Railways. The Tigers fell short of a third successive Great Southern Football League premiership at the final hurdle last season, going down to Albany by 18 points in the decider, which has spurred a new phase at Tigerland under dual premiership captain Stubber. Stubber will have his hands full in his new role as a player-coach and though he still yearns for finals footy, his focus will be turned to the club’s younger generation. “Our club has been pretty successful for a lot of years, and I don’t want to drop away from that,” Stubber said. “But my key goal is to make sure the future is in good hands, and we bring the youth and the kids through a new blood. “So that’s the first one but I still want to be hopefully top three. “I reckon losing it probably made us realise we had to rejig a few things and change a few things. “When you’re that successful, you sort of get your ways of just trying to win premierships so now we’ve gone away from that and trying to bring the next wave of players . . . to make their own dynasty.” The Tigers must grapple with the loss of a vast amount of games experience from their 2023 grand final team. Star ball winner Logan Stubber ruptured his ACL last season and will miss the entire 2024 in a big blow while the versatile Jack Steel is moving to Perth. Toby Hall has returned to Claremont while fellow youngster Josh Duffield and Tom Gawned have also moved on. Two-time Kleemann medallist Matt Palfrey, who sat out all last year through with an ACL injury, will again try his hand at playing for East Perth in the WAFL. Despite these key departures, the club welcomes back an exciting crop of young talent in Mohit Jaggi, Ryley Valli and Bailey Bennett who spent 2023 with Claremont. Promising youngsters Brock Lathbury and Bailey Curtis are poised to earn spots in the league team after impressive performances in the colts last season and solid pre-seasons. The Tigers have also poached Lorcan McNamara from cross-town rivals Royals. “I think we’ve got about nine or so players out of our grand final squad from last year, and I reckon they’ll nearly be filled up with kids or players who are stepping up into seniors this year,” Stubber said. “My thing is just about coming down and enjoying it, all your mates being together and I reckon we’ve done that pretty well. “We’ve stayed as a whole club training (colts and seniors) which has helped us immensely and the vibes have been up since the start of pre-season, which helps so much this time of year.” The Tigers first match is against North Albany in the traditional Anzac Day blockbuster to kick-start the new season before a home game against archrivals the Lions in round two. 2023 REWIND Finish: Runners-up Best and fairest: Logan Stubber Highest Kleemann votes: Bodhi Stubber and Jayden Scott (13) Biggest win: 110 points v Denmark-Walpole Worst loss: 29 points v Albany Highest goal scorer: Joel Want (45)