“We were there last year but lost in the first round of finals,” Miller said.

“We want to win finals and keep making improvements as a young team and play consistent football.”

A key to winning a final this year will be the continued improvement of Laharum’s young players. 

Especially, Miller said he was looking forward to seeing how Angus Martin and Tom Crawford travel this season.

“We will be looking to our young guys to have a big year,” Miller said.

“Last year we relied on a few too many so we will be looking at our younger blokes to step up. In particular we will be looking to Angus Martin and Tom Crawford, two guys in their young 20s who play key position.”

A mixture of youth as well as club leaders such as Gerard Matthews, Brett Ervin and last season’s co-coach Todd Heynon will play a big role in the team’s success this year. 

Miller said playing consistently across four quarters would be an aim for the team this campaign.

“Last year we found ourselves playing three good quarters, and then against the top sides losing our way for patches,” he said. 

“We need a four-quarter effort every week. A winning team is consistent across all four quarters.

“Finals football is definitely our goal this year. To make finals and to win some finals is our goal, hopefully we can keep taking those steps and a premiership won’t be too far away.”

With a few new recruits, including some travelling down from the Northern Territory, it could be a good year to get behind the Demons.

“We have three guys coming from Darwin, they are all young about 19 and 20,” Miller said.

“They are really skillful. I’m also looking forward to seeing how big Liam Nuske goes after a year off football. We really needed a ruckman this year.”

Laharum starts its season against Kalkee on April 7.

Who will be the teams to beat this season?

I reckon you could put a blanket over the top four or six teams, but if I had to pick the team to beat it would have to be the Swifts. They’re a fast team and score quickly. 

Will there be many new faces in the line-up come round one?

We retained a lot of players which was nice but there could be up to four to six new recruits lining up in our side in round one. 

How will your coaching style change this year?

As a sole coach I want the whole playing group going in the same direction in our game plan. I also want to be able to work with individuals on their strengths and weaknesses.