Cover Photo: Tracey Robertson Videography

Tallon Smith

The West Wyalong Mallee Men have continued to make strides in their rebuild under new coach Luke Clarke with the announcement of several new signings ahead of the 2026 season.

Following the acquisition of the head coach from the Parkes Spacemen and the early signings of forwards David White and Joash Toringi, the Mallee Men have recruited a number of further players, securing the services of Lockie Miller, Oscar Wood, Clay Morton, Brandon Jones, Elex Nasedra, Kepas Kepesa and Joe Epoa.

When asked about the initial pair of big name signings, Clarke said that he is looking forward to the impact that fellow former Peter McDonald Premiership players White and Toringi will have in the forwards for the club in 2026.

“Whitey’s awesome, since he moved to West Wyalong he hasn’t missed a training run, I signed him originally as a front rower but he’s sticking on that left side back row at this stage,” he said.

“He had a really strong game Friday night [of the Knockout] and a pretty good game on Saturday, so he definitely did what he was asked, he was very solid.

“Big Joash, I’d still like to get him a little bit fitter, he’s a self-proclaimed demolition man, he likes to hit hard and run hard.

“If we can get a few kilometres under his belt and get some big minutes out of him, he’s going to be hard to stop the big fella.”

Another one of the names that drew attention was that of strike centre Lockie Miller, who returns to the game after a lengthy absence due to injury.

Clarke said that despite dominating with both of his touches during the Knockout, another setback curtailed his weekend, but hopes remain high that the speedster will be ready for the opening round of the competition.

“Lockie had his first run of the game on Friday night, he made a break, got tackled, popped ghis shoulder out, it went back in.

“He had a bit of a breather, came back on, he made another break, ran about 60 metres, got to the fullback and got tackled and popped out again.

“[He’s] getting some scans this week, it looks like he might be out, hopefully he’s back for the first round.

“His shoulder popped out twice in two runs, but they were very impressive, both runs were breaks, so he’s looking very sharp.”

Looking back to the West Wyalong Knockout just under two weeks ago, Mallee Men produced a strong showing on their home turf at Ron Crowe Oval on the Friday night, defeating Cooma 16-6 before falling to eventual finalists Temora 14-0 in the quarter finals.

Reflecting on the performance, Clarke said that he was happy with the performances and the progress indicated by the club’s strong first up result.

“I’m pretty pleased, after Friday night’s performance all the locals and all the old boys were very impressed with the shape and just the energy and some of our plays, they said it was a pleasure to watch,” he said.

“If we can take that to round one and get them completions, hopefully we can play some good footy.”

As for his goals for the season, Clarke said that he believes the Mallee Men are a strong chance of returning to finals football in 2026.

“It’s just consistency, we all buy into it, culture, get around each other, as you know, you play hard, you train hard with your mates,” he said.

“Attitude in defence was awesome the other night, we let three tries in and two of them were from kicks, so I think we’re heading in the right direction for a good season.

“I’ve definitely set my sights on the semis and if not more than that.”