AFTER two season of success in the Horsham District league the Southern Mallee Giants will not be lowering their expectation in 2018 as the side enters the Wimmera League.
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New coach Coleman Schache is adamant his side will again be one of the main challengers come the end of the season.
“Obviously our main goal is to win a Wimmera League premiership,” he said. “We also want the whole club to make a successful transition into the league and we need develop the youth coming through the Giants and get the most out of the squad as possible.”
The side will need to quickly adjust its game plan in the opening rounds of the season as it is set to be tested by the top three sides of 2017.
“It’s difficult to say just how much we’ll need to change but I expect we’ll need to be quicker and fitter,” Schache said. “We need to be prepared to play harder and tougher footy for longer of the periods of the games by being more consistent.”
The departure of Kain Robins, Shaun Monahan, Luke Mahony and Tom Hallam will leave a hole in the Giants team that will be another challenge for the side to make up.
“We’ve obviously lost 100 goals out of full-forward but we’ve got good 18 and 19-year-olds coming through,” Schache said. “The variety of the recruits coming in really excites me as well.”
Q and A with Coleman Schache
What has you most excited about this season?
A new chapter for the Giants and the challenges that lie ahead this year. Just the numbers and enthusiasm at training is great and everyone is keen to get the best out of themselves to see how far we can actually go as a group this year.
Where do expect improvement to come?
If everyone can take a step forward with their football, that will improve the Giants as a whole. Having a core group of players stick together for repetitive years will help for sure
Who do you expect will take a step up this season?
Andy Phelan and Dylan Marshman have both been setting the standards at training along with Riley Cook.