Meyer In, Mahrous Out
The Farmer Bunnies' production line has been fairly bountiful these past weeks, and they would moreover retain their first trainee for some time; 17 year-old centreback
Jerad Meyer would be the recepient of that rare honour, as he was assigned the Number Fourteen jersey today, making him the club's first academy-to-senior promotee since
Wadihan Hanafi Yusuf three seasons ago - AES Anchan's cameo not included.
Meyer will hope to get more appearances than Wadihan, who wangled his first two after two years of waiting, and if his Rabbits scout Yip De Da is right, Meyer should have better luck. "The senior squad that Jerad is trying to break into is at its most open for nearly two decades." Yip assessed. "We can expect many of the old guard to be stepping down their minutes significantly, and that's where he will get the chances to establish himself."
Still, Yip warned against taking anything for granted. "The fans cannot help but be demanding, seeing as how Jerad will be viewed as successor to a defensive tradition that has produced much of the national team's defence at a point. He's good, but he's no prodigy like Tham and Kwek were back in the day, so expectations should be tempered here."
Meyer's Rancher Rabbits teammate Mahrous Tamim will depart on the same day as his own ascension, with Tamim having secured a free transfer to local Division Three club THORtise, on his own initiative. The Holland Village newbies are certainly a bunch on the up, as they followed up their runners-up finish in IV.50 having changed ownership midway through the season, to a championship run that included winning their last seven matches.
THORtise gaffer Abdullah Faizol is one to cast his net wide, though, from how he has already brought in four young hopefuls earlier this week, and it must be up to the 17 year-old to make himself stand out from the crowd. A rare example of a youngster who had managed to get into the Rabbits after an initial rejection, Tamim does have grit and willpower in spades, or so Tong Han Kong says.
"Mahrous has a bit of a one-track mind, which has not always put him in good stead as a winger." the scout mused. "They're supposed to be the tricky ones, right? But then again, his straightforward, honest running is an asset in its own way."
