Jonathon Ceglar impressed in his first season in brown and gold after the Club selected him as a rookie in last December’s Rookie Draft.
The 204cm ruckman spent most of the season developing in the VFL and eventually became a key to Box Hill’s premiership success.
At 94kgs, he still has a way to go in the weights room to get to his desired playing weight and the strength to withstand a full season as a ruckman.
His ruck work improved over the course of the year thanks to his hard work with ruck coach Damian Monkhorst and his ability to push forward and take a mark is undoubtedly one of his biggest strengths.
He earned himself a senior debut in Round 14 after he was upgraded to the senior list along with fellow rookie Will Langford at the expense of injury pair Ryan Schoenmakers and Matt Suckling.
He impressed in his debut against the Lions in Tasmania with 22 hit outs and nine disposals as the side’s number one ruckman who also spent time inside forward 50.
That was his only senior appearance until Round 19 when he returned to the side after impressive showings in the VFL.
He started the VFL season well, averaging 23 hit outs and 13 disposals in his first four games before a breakout game in Round 5 with 42 hit outs and nine disposals against North Ballarat.
It wasn’t just his ruck work in that game that was impressive though, but rather his work at ground level and his ability to apply pressure to the opposition. He had five tackles in that game along with nine disposals.
Ceglar also had one of his best games for the season after he lost his place in the Hawthorn team the week following his debut.
In that game he had 38 hit outs and 17 disposals in an impressive performance that showed his professionalism and positive attitude to plying his trade in both the VFL and AFL.
He was a key player in Box Hill’s successful finals series also, averaging 27.3 hit outs and 11.6 disposals. He also averaged a goal a game throughout the finals.
His best performance came in the preliminary final when he had 34 hit outs, 15 possessions and kicked two goals but his grand final too shouldn’t be underrated, with 24 hit outs and 12 disposals.
Ceglar will work hard again with Monkhorst over the summer and spend time in the gym to further develop himself into an AFL ruckman.
What Chris Fagan said: “Ceglar is a really promising ruckman who has a great leap and can kick the ball on his left and right.
“He can take a mark and kick a goal, so he’s a good one to have on our list from a development point of view and I’m sure in years to come he’s going to be a pretty good AFL ruckman.”
