Wildcats favourite commits for forthcoming campaign

Balint Pakozdi has become the latest player to re-commit himself to the Bespoke Guardian Swindon Wildcats, extending his deal with the team.

Reed Sayers, Ed Bradley, and Renny Marr have all signed up for next season since the trip to the Final Four and Pakozdi has become the latest to commit to the Wildcats.

Having first arrived ahead of the Covid-impacted 2020/21 season Pakozdi’s work ethic and versatility has ingratiated him to head coach Aaron Nell during his time in Swindon.

Marr will be entering his eighth season as the Wildcats' reliable net-minder, Bradley joins with a wealth of NIHL experience with Bees IHC and Bristol Pitbulls, and Sayers continues his progression into the senior set-up having come through the ranks.

Nell said in a statement on the club website: “Bringing Bali back was another no-brainer for us. He’s a young player with tonnes of ability. He can play anywhere in our forward lines and never takes a shift off.

“Last year may not have been his most productive in terms of points, but he continued to play a massive role in our lineup. His best years are still ahead of him and he’s another member of the ‘new core’ we’re looking to build the club around.”

The quartet join Nell, Tyler Plews, Chris Jones, Glenn Billing, Eddie Berbis, and Tomasz Malasinski as being part of the squad for 2024/25 with the Wildcats assembling their squad for the coming campaign.

As preparations continue to ramp up for next season Nell said that he was hoping to go even further than the Wildcats last season, finishing third in the regular season and reaching the Final Four as well as reaching the cup semi-final.

He said: “[Winning] is always the target, you can never promise winning in sport but we need to make sure that we put ourselves in positions to have a successful season next year.

“That work has already started and we just need to make sure that we are doing the right things to make it happen.

“Just getting to the Final Four is not the achievement, surviving as a club for the first three months of last season was the achievement, our expectation is getting to the Final Four as a minimum.

“Last season was a season we will never forget and one that we can be proud of, but one that we can learn from and push on to be better next year.”