Williamstown CYMS needs to get up to Premier speed – and fast.
The CYs have struggled to adapt to life in the Victorian Amateur Football Association Premier C division, following promotion after last year’s division 1 premiership.
They are languishing in third-last position with one win in five matches after Saturday’s 18.10 (118)-15.6 (96) loss to Old Haileyburians at Fearon Reserve.
CYs coach Mathew Montebello told Star Weekly his side was short on experience at the level and would need more time to adjust.
“The hard thing is that we’ve probably got only half of last year’s grand final side,” he said.
“We’ve lost some of our mid-20s players who have a bit more of a calmer head and make really good decisions and some young kids have come up. But, in saying that, our young kids are performing pretty well.
“Premier football is a lot quicker, and we’re working through that.”
The short-term outlook for CYs is a tad bleak, but is far from a forlorn task.
They have been competitive in all games except those involving top two clubs Marcellin and Monash Blues, who posed nightmares for all and sundry in the early rounds.
Promising patches in games are getting longer but they need to sustain it to claim a scalp bigger than their only victory for the season, over winless Old Camberwell Grammarians.
“It’s growing pains for us,” Montebello said.
“You can’t have the lulls you have in the lower division because teams jump out on you.
“I feel if we can get a big win [we’ll get] a bit more self-belief and we can have a bit more control in games.”
The positives outweighed the negatives for CYs in the loss to Old Haileyburians and none was more significant than the return to form of Luke Molan.
Molan, a former top 10 AFL draft pick, has been played out of position at times for team balance, but relished his chance to play as a deep forward and booted five goals in an ominous display.
“He’s probably had a little bit of a frustrating start to the year,” Montebello said.
“The good thing about today was that he said enough is enough. He tried to almost personally keep us in the game.”
Ryan Joy was one of CYs most consistent, excelling in a variety of roles. He kicked three goals and made his touches count across half forward and on the wing.
CYs will travel to Marcellin on Saturday on the back of a four-game losing streak and in danger of sliding into the bottom two.
