With the Southern Mallee Thunder's first WFNL fixture just over a week away, senior coach Kieran Delahunty is pleased with how the pre-season has gone for the league's newest club.
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Now in his second year as a coach, Delahunty praised the club's work over the off-season.
"It's been a busy offseason, obviously, with the amalgamation. But so far, so good, it's been pretty smooth sailing," Delahunty said.
"There's been plenty of support outside of training as well. So it has kicked off well, and it should be an exciting year."
This has been shown by the playing group and its numbers at training over the pre-season.
From a coaching perspective, Delahunty sees the advantage of working with part of the group in 2023 but complemented how the Jeparit-Rainbow players have worked out on the training track.
"They'll have another year to adjust to the game plan. And they've already got a fair understanding of that," he said.
"It's just about bringing the Jeparit Rainbow boys along for the process and getting them up to speed, but it's worked out really well so far.
"All those guys have bought into the club, and the training numbers have been great."
When looking at the playing group, key players from the two clubs last year have been retained.
Liam Nelson, Billy Lloyd, Rupert Sangster, and Angus McSweyn are a few back from the Giants' side.
Delahunty has been impressed by Nick Yarran, Xavier Oakley and 2023 Storm best and fairest Tom Clarke.
"A few of our guys have said he's lost six or seven kilos in the pre-season. He's super fit," Delahunty said of Clarke.
Oakley has won all of the Thunder's running after being limited in the HDFNL last season due to an ankle injury.
"He's super quick; I'm looking forward to seeing what he does through the midfield," he said.
Southern Mallee had its first practice match against Kalkee on Saturday, March 23.
"It was just really good to get the guys together for their first hit-out. It was pleasing; we were able to implement some of the ball movement and press that we're trying to implement this year," Delahunty said.
The Thunder rounded out preparations for its round one match against Warrack with a hit-out against Nullawil on Saturday, April 6.
"Obviously, there are a number of guys who have played together and are mates but wouldn't have all played on the same team," he said.
"It's just about building those relationships, guys getting to know each other and how they play. I think the more time we can spend together, the better we'll be."