In a huge statement of intent for 2022, Noradjuha-Quantong have announced the signing of livewire Southern Mallee Giants forward Brock Orval.
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Instead of resting on their laurels after going unbeaten in the 2021 Horsham District Football Netball League season, the Bombers have acted swiftly to shore up their attacking stocks for their 2022 tilt.
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Off the field the former Giant will also serve as an assistant to Bombers' coaches Gareth Hose and Damian Cameron.
According to Orval the potential to play closer to home in Horsham was a major factor in his decision to sign with the Bombers.
"With work and that, it's fairly busy so I just thought look Quanny are only ten minutes down the road and I've only ever heard great things about them," Orval said.
"I've played with Gareth at Beulah and the Giants and I've been coached by him at Beulah too, so once I spoke to them it was a pretty easy decision.
"It just gets too hard with travel sometimes. Being only ten minutes down the road is very convenient."
The opportunity to further his coaching development was also something that attracted Orval to the club.
"I wanted to get into coaching after I had that assistant coaching role at Charlton in 2019 and Gareth said they had an assistant coaching role available, so I thought I'd definitely take him up on that offer," he said.
"I think learning off Gaz and Damo's really going to put me on the right path to getting into senior coaching.
"They're very experienced footballers and coaches."
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Hose was just as thrilled to have Orval onboard for 2022 as both a coach and a player.
"He comes to the club with some really good experience," Hose said.
He's played in premiership sides with the Giants and brings that goalkicking power which will add to our forward line.
"He's got a desire to develop his leadership and coaching. We're really happy to have him onboard in that capacity."
Due to a season-ending knee injury, Orval only managed the three Wimmera Football Netball League games for the Giants in 2021; however in those games he slotted an impressive 18 goals and had a healthy lead in the competition goalkicking charts after three rounds.
The forward is familiar with the HDFNL, where he was a key cog in the Giants' back-to-back 2016 and 2017 premierships.
Orval who has played majority of his football with the Giants and Beulah, acknowledged the difficulty in farewelling his boyhood club.
"It's always a very hard phone call to make," he said.
"They were definitely understanding.
"It's always going to be my home club and I'm sure if I ever want to go back there they wouldn't have a problem with that."
Since the Giants 2018 WFNL decider loss to the Burras, Orval has spent time with Charlton as a playing assistant coach in the North Central Football League, as well as South Cairns in QLD and Waratah in the Northern Territory Football League.
As for his recovery from his knee injury, Orval is confident he'll be right to go for the start of the 2022 season.
"I'm only a couple of weeks away from running," he said.
"I'm looking at being 100% by round one definitely."
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