Raven Jolliffe joins Holbrook from Wangaratta Rovers

The 27-year-old departs W. J. Findlay Oval after four years with the Hawks, having previously played for Wodonga Raiders in 2017-18.

Jolliffe's arrival from the Ovens and Murray in the prime of his career is music to the ears of Brookers coach Matt Sharp as he begins his sixth year in charge of the Hume League outfit.

"It's huge," Sharp said.

"Raven knew a couple of the boys there, he and AB (Mackinlay) worked previously with (former Rovers coach) Daryn Cresswell, they struck up a relationship through work and it played out quite quick.

"Now he's a Holbrook footballer!

"We've got a recruiting team at Holbrook, we have discussions and we respected that Raven's at that age where he wants to test himself and play better footy.

"You definitely have a list of A-graders you'd love to target and it's just worked out that he's local and wants to take a step back.

"But in saying that, he sounds like a very driven individual and I'm sure he still wants to get the best out of himself.

"I'm sure that's what Daryn Cresswell's done with him over his journey with him as his coach."

Jolliffe was named in Rovers' best players in 13 of the 20 games he played last season as Cresswell's side went all the way to the preliminary final.

He joins a Holbrook side bidding to win back-to-back senior Hume League flags for the first time, having snapped an 18-year premiership drought with victory over Osborne in September.

"This is massive for us," Sharp said.

"That's all I've heard about him, he's just a real smooth mover who can play in multiple positions and he's going to add a professional side to what we do.

"He's a family man as well, he's got a young kid and a partner and we've got a lot of people at our club that are in the same boat.

ALSO IN SPORT:

"I think that was appealing for him as well, that we can put family first and cater for that side of things."

Sharp expects Jolliffe to become a firm favourite with the Brookers faithful when he pulls on the green and gold.

"He's a real smooth mover, he goes about his business very quietly and everyone I've spoken to, they rate him very highly," Sharp said.

"He'll add that A-grade class and I can see him having a very good year."

Jolliffe's arrival is timely, with a number of Holbrook's rivals having recruited well over the summer.

Howlong recently landed Jarred Lane, fresh out of the Ovens and Murray with Corowa-Rutherglen, while Osborne have enticed tall forwards Hayden Armstrong and George Alexander back to the club alongside ex-VFL midfielder Matt McGrory.

Holbrook begins its premiership defence at home to Jindera on April 15, with the Bulldogs another of the sides tipped to play finals this season, and Sharp is happy with how his list has come together.

"We've only lost four at the minute and we've got a few local boys that have moved back to the area, so what we've lost, we've gained," he said.

"We've lost a couple through wanting to play better footy (Kolby Heiner-Hennessy to Albury and Ewan Mackinlay to Lavington), one's overseas (Stephen Leitch) and one's done his knee (Corey McCarthy).

"Corey's a good kid who loves his sport and it was just an innocent thing that happened.

"It was just one of those things, he turned up (to a touch footy competition), was there to watch and he ended up playing. It played out the way it did.

"Leitchy's heading overseas at the start of March so he'll be a big loss because he did some really good one-on-one jobs for us during the year."

Holbrook had 40 players attend their most recent training session.

"We joined up with the netballers on the footy oval and it was a really inclusive environment," Sharp said.

"Everyone's on a bit of a high and I don't think there will be a hangover after what we achieved last season."

Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. This is how you can continue to access our trusted content: