Young Snow Dogs star Edyn Sibbald joins FTLOTG

Joe Pignataro

St Bernard’s moved into outright favouritism in Premier B after dismantling fellow finals fancy Old Carey to the tune of 59 points on the weekend.

The 2015 William Buck Premier champions have endured a less-than-successful couple of seasons since claiming the flag, finishing ninth in 2016 and being knocked out of the 2017 Premier B finals race by Old Scotch in an extra time thriller during last year’s preliminary final.

With the return of 2015 premiership forward Chad Jones paying dividends with 45 goals from eight games and Michael Caven who suffered a broken leg last year (27 goals from 10 games), the vibe at the Snake Pit is high going into the secnd half of the season.

Edyn Sibbald, who’s developed into a focal point and regular in the senior side, spoke to the For the Love of the Game podcast about the excitement around the club.

“It’s pretty positive down there at the moment,” he said.

“To get pretty convincing wins against good sides like Old Carey and Uni Blacks, Beaumaris and Caulfield. It’s all going pretty well, and it’s been a good start so far.”

Sibbald played every game for the club in 2017 and his stellar year was enhanced by earning a spot on the Big V touring party to Ireland along with the invitation to spend the pre-season training with the Essendon VFL side.

Going into Round 1, St Bernard’s coach Mark “Bomber” Riley announced seven debutants in the senior side – Jordan Farrell, Fraser Considine, Harry Kennedy, Frank Fazzolari, Ben Huggard, Ethan Schuman and Jake Maher. Sibbald sees this as a positive and can only strengthen the position St Bernard’s finds themselves in.

“When you’ve got so many young players debuting in the senior side it can only be good for the club and just show the depth that we’ve got.”

Sibbald played a straight bat when asked about the Snow Dogs being dubbed the benchmark due to their hot recent form.

“It’s a long year and there’s plenty of games ahead of us that we have to get through,” he said.

“At this stage we’re looking pretty good, we just have to stick at it and stick to our guns execute what we train week to week.”

St Bernard’s host Old Haileybury this Saturday at the Snake Pit. 2pm is the first bounce with both sides playing for the Peter Nicholson Cup.

Last Time They Met

St Bernard’s 19.18.132 def. Old Haileybury 7.13.55

Keep up to date with everything happening in the VAFA on VAFA Tragics released every Tuesday night with Andrew Leonard and Nick Armistead + the VAFA’s official podcast For the Love of the Game released Wednesday afternoons with Joe Pignataro, Nick Armistead and Brian Waldron.

Feature photo: St Bernard’s