James Syddall will make his long-awaited debut for Barwon Heads in Saturday’s Easter Saturday matchup with fellow 2023 finalist Anglesea at Howard Harmer Oval.

After a knee injury in the pre-season forced the former South Barwon star to watch on last year, Seagulls co-coach Sam Schaller is excited by the prospect of adding the talented Syddall to the lineup.

He can play in every part of the field, having kicked 74 goals in 103 games for the Swans.

“It’s been a bit of a focus over the whole pre-season with a lot of guys to try and get some dual positions into some guys,” Schaller said.

“If things happen on matchday, we don’t want to sit on our hands; we want to be pretty proactive.

“He’ll probably start across halfback, and if we look like we need something different through the middle or the front half of the ground, he could definitely go up there.

“But, missing 12 months of footy, let’s get the footy in his hands a bit, and we’ll go from there throughout the year.”