NEW Willaston coach Andrew Jarman has landed two new recruits with Oliver Petrohilos and Corey Smith signing on to become Donnybrooks for the 2021 season.

Jarman previously coached Petrohilos at Gaza, where he had a season as the club’s leading goal kicker, while Smith is arriving from Modbury after first meeting Jarman at a skills session.

Jarman said the former Norwood Redlegs juniors bring some key attributes to the group.

“‘Ollie’ will bring footy smarts and excellent ball use – he’s a genuine goal kicker which we require,” he said.

“He has an outstanding footy IQ, which I love about him, and then Corey brings in speed, flexibility and the ability to break the lines and link up.

“Both lads are of outstanding character so they fit in to what we are developing, and they will assist us in developing our local talent who will come into our senior footy program.”

Petrohilos, who has never played country footy before, said it was an exciting new challenge, and linking up with ‘Jars’ again was a no-brainer.

“It’s not just about the football side of it, because with Jars it’s a lot about everything he does for you off the field,” he said.

“He’s genuinely a loving, caring bloke who would do anything for you – he’ll call you during the week just to see how you’re going – and those are the guys you want to play for.

“On the footy side, he’s got a game plan and style that will be competitive in any league, so I feel like we can have some success under him.”

Smith, who has some country footy experience with Port Broughton, said he’s looking forward to the atmosphere that comes with football further away from the city.

“I don’t mean it in a negative way at all, but compared to the Norwood and SANFL type system where it’s all about setups and structure, country footy is more about doing the basics really well,” he said.

“It’s a more fun brand of footy for my taste – the crowds are more invested, and the boys get around each other after the game which I love.”

There is still plenty of work to be done on the recruiting trail, with key position guns Alex Barclay and Brayden Coombs following former Willaston coach Shaun Baker to his new role at Virginia.