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Wednesday, January 21 Defection another blow.....Allan loss to hurt Hawks but coach focused on developing young list THE news of Jamie Allan’s defection comes as yet another blow for the beleaguered Wangaratta Rovers, following on from the departures of stars Peter Cristoforo, Jesse Silver, Nigel Hill and Marcus Webb at the end of last season. But coach Matt Allen said the Hawks were ready to move forward without Allan, conceding the club had been aware of the midfielder’s discussions with rival clubs over the past month. "We have heard rumblings that Jamie had been speaking with Wangaratta and a few other clubs since before Christmas," he said. "Obviously it is a blow - he is a terrific player, and a quality onballer, and you never want to lose quality onballers."But in the end you can only coach the players who want to play at your club, and Jamie was no longer happy playing here."He didn’t give us any firm idea of why he was unhappy, but just said it was something he needed to do for his football." With rumors circulating over the past month linking Allan with a move to either Wangaratta or Wodonga after he initially signalled a return to the VFL, the matter was finally put to rest on Monday night when Allen confirmed the gun midfielder’s departure at a Rovers training session. "The players had been talking about it, and some had indicated that they knew what was going on," he said. "We told the players about Jamie’s decision, and there was a bit of disappointment there."But pretty much immediately the focus turned to what each individual has to offer the club, and what they can do to help the side improve."We are all just focusing on the players who really want to play at our club now - we are getting terrific numbers at training and the atmosphere is still very positive." While acknowledging the rarity of players switching between Wangaratta’s two Ovens and Murray Football League clubs, Allen said the rivalry between the Hawks and the Magpies would not flare out of control. "As far as we’re concerned the only issue is losing Jamie - it has nothing to do with where he has chosen to play," he said. "It is a very rare occurrence for players to change clubs like that, and in that respect it is pretty big, but I don’t think it will add to the rivalry."The rivalry has existed for a long time, and it certainly doesn’t need any added spark, so I can’t see this changing it." The Hawks will now focus on retaining the services of Allan’s two younger brothers, Robbie, who broke into the senior team midway through last season, and Danny, who starred in the thirds’ premiership winning year. "Robbie and Danny are both terrific young fellows, and we don’t want to lose them," Allen said. "We’ll sit down with them now and see what they want to do, but I don’t think they have any issues with staying here."Robbie has been looking good, and he seems like he is just about to take off as a player, and Danny had a great year in the thirds." Written by - SCOTT ANDERSON.
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