Altona was a goal and loose change away from reaching last year’s Western Region Football League division 1 grand final.
The Vikings emerged as genuine contenders in a bounce-back season under coach Saade Ghazi, so the expectations are high going into 2017.
On paper, the Vikings look significantly stronger, having retained the bulk of their list and brought in some key signings.
But Ghazi has warned his players that new recruits alone will not be enough to bridge the gap between a preliminary final and a spot in the big dance at season’s end.
“We enjoyed last season – it was a big tick for the football club – but we’ve had to move away from that pretty quickly,” he said.
“We know that this year will be even harder again, so the focus is on how we’re going to improve. I think a lot of that improvement will come from within.”
Ghazi is keen to see if stars such as Jordan Robbins and Travis Lunardi can take their game up another level to become elite WRFL players.
The Vikings promoted a number of youngsters last season who could be ready to stake their claims on starting line-up spots.
There is also excitement surrounding key position player Jayden Post, who missed the latter part of last season.
“He’s not a new recruit, but we didn’t have him for the last six weeks of the year, so that’s really important to our structure, to get him up and going,” Ghazi said. “He played last week in a practice match and got through really well.”
One player can make a big difference to the structure of a football side and for Altona that looks like being recruit Mark Paget.
Paget has the ability to hold down the No.1 ruck position, potentially allowing Josh Rafferty to play more as a forward.
Ghazi felt it was important to bring in another recognised ruckman after the elimination of the third man up in the ruck contests.
“He’s been living in Altona for a couple of years, so he’s sort of been under our noses,” Ghazi said. “He played at East Doncaster last year and was first ruck in the second division team of the year.”
The domino effect will also be felt in the Altona midfield this season with the signing of Steven Kennedy.
Kennedy was a dominant player for Darley in the Ballarat Football League and his arrival at Sugargum Drive will further strengthen the Vikings’ midfield.
At the top of Ghazi’s wish-list was getting players with polished foot skills – with Kennedy and Josh Macdonald, brought in from Glen Orden, fitting the bill.
“They’re both elite kicks and that’s going to help our team,” Ghazi said.
Altona has a tough opening month, starting with a trip to four-time defending champion Deer Park on Saturday.
“We know we’re the underdogs going in, let’s be clear about that, but it’s a new year and every club out playing footy in round one is optimistic of a victory, no matter who you’re playing against,” Ghazi said.
“It gives us a bit of confidence that we did beat them last year once.”
