The Griffins rolled minor premiers Northern Suburbs in their semi-final at Robins Oval but an incredible escape saw the Lorn club produce a thrilling outright win late on Sunday afternoon.

Easts captain Andrew Vickery will want to go one better in 2014-15 but will have to do it without two of his most experienced players.

Batsman and former captain Brendan Mills and all-rounder Shannon O’Hara have retired, leaving Easts without two of their most senior players.

Easts have also lost young gun Tom Cook who has joined Cardiff in the Newcastle competition after he claimed the second-most wickets in first grade last season with 29 scalps. 

The good news for Vickery is that his brother, Will, has returned along with veteran all-rounder Jason Allen and quick Dallas Crane.

The 28-year-old said it would be a rebuilding year for the Griffins but backed the ability of a host of young players to step up.

“It might be that our juniors step up for a year,” he said.

“It could be a rebuilding year but we’ve still got a lot of quality players.

“We’ve still got Jase, me, Will and a few others so we’ve got a good core.

“Those experienced guys will be hard to replace obviously but I think we will do alright.”

Vickery said youngsters Pat Magann and brothers Lucas and Cal Sargent would shoulder most of the work with the ball in the absence of Cook and O’Hara.

The all-rounder said he expected Magann in particular to have a big season.

“Pat did a great job for us last year,” he said.

“He batted seven for us on the weekend as well and was our best bat by far.”

See tomorrow’s Mercury for our preview of Northern Suburbs

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