Debut time at the Valley

DEBUT TIME AT THE VALLEYS

Moonee Valley has had nine players make their First Eleven debut in the half-year up to Christmas - which equals the club record for the past 16 seasons.
The debutants have ranged from long-standing Valley players - wicketkeeper Peter Golding, through to juniors - Krish Kanchan, who is still eligible to play Under 14s.
While we haven't quite found the combination that's going to regularly win games, the opportunity for players to come in at our highest level will stand us in good stead.
At right: First Eleven debutants in Round 8 - Krish Kanchan (left) and Jeet Shah.
Our First Eleven debuts this season have been handed to Mark Grenville, Peter Golding, Shiraz Badurdeen, Dishnaka Manoj, Shiwantha Kumara, Michael Ozbun, Joshua Gorry, Krish Kanchan and Jeet Shah.
The additions take our First Eleven debutants since the 2003/04 season to 107.
The last time we had nine Firsts debutants before Christmas was in 2006/07, when caps were handed to Vikash Chand, Rajan Aiyappan, Mark Forster, Ajith John, Bryce Peter-Budge, Evan Blythe, Iraklis Kolokithas, Heath Webb-Johnson and Wayne Nicol. We added two further debutants after Christmas that year - James Rawlinson and Dino Sapuppo.
By contrast, we've had seasons with just four new Firsts players - most recently 2016/17, with Dean Coxall, Anthony Cafari, Jordon McDonald and Alex Davidson.
At left: Our 2018/19 Sri Lanka imports pulled on the Valley cap for the first time - Shiwantha Kumara (left) and Dishnaka Manoj.
We also turned over just four new players in 2014/15 - Troy Eden, Freddie Priestley, Nate Wolland and Paul Bannister.
In our First Eleven Premiership year of 2009/10, we added just five new Firsts players across the course of the season - including Dushan Raveendrakumar, who got handed his cap in the Grand Final. The others were David Roach, Craig Pridham, Simon Thornton and Daniel Gauci.
And in the build-up to our Premiership year, in 2008/09, we picked six new Firsts players - Amit Chaudhary, Bede Gannon, Nick Puccio, Kane Harding, Sean O'Kane and Peter O'Kane. Three of them - Amit, Kane and Sean - played major roles in the Premiership the following season.
Let's hope that our current crop of First Eleven debutants has the same impact at Moonee Valley.