Altona is backing in its young playing group to get the job done in the Western Football League division 1 competition.
The Vikings didn’t add too many players to their squad in the off season with the focus on the group that made finals last season.
They started the season with split results, a loss to reigning premiers Hoppers Crossing before a thrilling win against Parkside.
The Vikings then had Easter weekend off.
Senior assistant coach Nathan Moon said it was nice to get the win in round two after missing an opportunity against the Warriors.
“It was good to get some of the hard work to pay off after the first week,” he said. “They [the Warriors] are quality opposition and we got to see where you are at.
“We definitely think that we will be around the mark. There’s some quality teams and there will be no easy games, that’s for sure.”
Moon said they had a quiet off season compared to some other clubs, with not many players coming into the club.
He said they were focused on their home grown talent.
“We’ve kept a bit of stability this season,” he said. “Hopefully being the second season under Trav [Travis Varcoe] we’ll continue to work and continue to grow the way we want to play footy.
“Hopefully we can take the next step after being knocked out in the first week of finals.”
The biggest signing for the Vikings in the off season was former AFL player Emerson Jeka.
After stints at Hawthorn and Geelong, Jeka returned to the club where he played his junior football.
“For him to come back to his junior club is good,” he said. “It’s good to see former AFL players come back after being at the top level.”
The Vikings also had another former AFL player line up in round two, with Varcoe pulling on the jumper in the reserves.
It was his first match for the club.
“Trav in the twos was good,” said Moon, who is also the reserves coach. “He got through three quarters.
“With a young group to have someone with that experience running around providing that feedback is invaluable.
“Hopefully he’ll play some of the 2pm games and make the opposition have to plan.”
Moon said having a week off was mixed as they wanted to continue on after a good win, but the break would do them well.
The Vikings are in action this Saturday against Spotswood in round three.
“They gave us a lesson last time,” he said. “These are the games we have to win, they are eight point games.
“It will give us a little bit of a break. We won’t want to be chasing like we did last year after an average start.”
