Sport
10 October, 2025
MDCA 2025-26 Season Preview — Clunes
Clunes look poised to put any memory of their winless campaign last season behind them and return to being MDCA contenders come March.
Last season’s record wasn’t really indicative of the talent the Magpies still possess in their ranks, with many key components of the 2023/24 runners-up team remaining.
Case in point is the club going back-to-back in A reserve last season, with this season’s A grade captain and 2023/24 A grade Grand Final Best on Ground, Mitch Coppick, scoring a pivotal 62 in the Grand Final.
According to Coppick, the club has done all the necessary early work to climb back up the A grade ladder.
“We are looking really good, we have had a really strong preseason, probably one of our best preseasons we have had in the last four or five years,” he said.
“The preseason has really built the camaraderie around the group. We are all mates and we have been mates for a long time, so it’s just about getting back together and getting back in the swing of things.
“That’s what we have based ourselves as a club on for the last 10 years, since I’ve been at Clunes, just really enjoying each other’s company and making sure we are doing the right things for each other.
“Mark Allen has been a stalwart of our club, he’s had a massive preseason and he’s the best he’s looked in years.
“Jude McGuire is obviously a superstar player, one of the best batsmen in the league. If he gets going, he will be very hard to stop this year.
“Young Brett Coon, for a teenager, he’s done a power of work this pre-season, he’s going to be one to really watch.
With contributions from Anthony Ellis, Allen, Brendan Ingram and McGuire, Clunes were often able to put up competitive scores with the bat.
However, despite the efforts of teenage sensation Brett Coon, Clunes’ biggest downfall last season was their inability to generate consistent breakthroughs, with Coon, Ingram and Brad Stevenson the only bowlers to finish the campaign with five wickets or more.
That will certainly change this season as elite spinner Ritik Yadav will switch the Carisbrook red for the Magpies black in arguably the biggest inter-association player switch of the off-season.
After taking 34 wickets in the past two seasons, including a seven-wicket haul versus his new team last campaign, Coppick said Yadav will bring a new dynamic to the Magpies.
“We have Yadav who’s coming over from Carisbrook, he’s probably the best spinner in the league, he will add a lot to our side,” he said.
“He gives us an option which we haven’t really had before, which is a first-class frontline spinner.”
Yadav is one of three international players joining Clunes this season, alongside Ahmed Rehman and Saubhagya Chaturvedi, making the most of their first foray into the international pool.
Coppick said their international trio, coupled with the addition of Ben Handley, will give the Magpies much-needed depth in multiple facets.
“We have never brought in international players, so this is our first time doing so, which is good for the club,” he said.
“They will all bring a lot of experience and they will
add a lot to our batting and bowling attack. It will bring a lot of depth to our A grade side, which we sort of lacked last year.”