Despite not winning a match, the Tigers finished eighth on the ladder, with their percentage slightly higher than the Warrack Eagles who did not get to have their second bye.

The reality of the TIgers' season was clear early on, but senior football team coach Jaye Macumber said he was pleased to see so many of the young cubs get a taste of senor football

"Getting so much game time into our young squad has been really good," he said.

"We have had a lot of young, young players I think we have had 43 different payers in the seniors this year and I think about 18 or 19 of them played their first senior games.

"I think that is very positive for the club going forward and it was exciting to see how many young players got that opportunity."

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Macumber said his side were on the back foot early in the year when three prized recruits from Papa New Guinea were unable to come to Australia and work in Nhill as planned.

The club was also missing some key recruits from South Australia, who couldn't make the commitment with the COVID-19 issues lingering.

But this opened opportunities for those already with the Tigers with Jarrod Dalumberg, Drew Schneider and Matt Kennedy all showing good signs in the eyes of their coach.

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"I'm impressed with how they stood up throughout the year and grew into their role in his first full year of senior football," he said.

"For kids that are 18-19 years old, they showed some really good signs."

Macumber, who has coached previously with Minyip Murtoa in 2016, the North Ballarat Rebels squad and the Western Bulldogs academy, said he learnt a lot about coaching in 2021.

"I have just learnt about continuously being patient," he said.

"We have such a young squad that hasn't been exposed to that higher level football and so understanding the extra work is required outside Tuesday and Thursday.

"And that is about teaching in a different way compared to other groups I've coached."

Nhill's reserves won six games in 2021 enough for fourth place on the ladder.

Meanwhile the club's Under-17s scored a finals berth, landing in fourth spot too.

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