Ocean Grove will wait until all of its Under 18 teams have finished their seasons before properly delving into list management for next season.
The Grubbers finished their season in round 18 with a victory against third placed Anglesea to finish in eighth place with four wins.
“There’s been some really great week done in the list management space already with a good chunk of the list recommitting,” coach Dave Farrell said.
“We’re really conscious of our under 18s still having up to six weeks of footy left and don’t want to distract them from that, but their plans for next year will play a major part in where need to complement our existing list.
“Once we have a clearer picture of areas we might be light in moving forward we will be pretty deliberate with our recruiting, but clearly will need to be players that can have an impact on ground while helping fast track the development of our younger players rather than looking just to the short term.”
While Anglesea may have rested a few players for its final round hit-out, Farrell said several sides had underestimated the young Grubbers in the back half of the season. Ocean Grove won the game 14.7(91) to 10.16(76).
“Ladder position, a young list and some inconsistent performances have led to a couple of sides approaching games with complacency against us in the second half of the season,” he said.
“On a couple of occasions we have taken the opportunity which is pleasing. We haven’t made much of player unavailability this season due to the fact we have so much respect for the next player to come in.
“I don’t think any coaching group can ever be sure what their best 22 looks and we’d have a hell of a job if we were playing next week with a fully fit squad given the way some debutants and new players in our group have stepped up this season.”
Farrell described his side’s season as a “mixed bag”.
“Despite our results in the first half of the year everyone remained united and didn’t deviate from our plan,” he said.
“Wins/losses and ladder position were clearly not where we wanted to be, but it didn’t take a long internal review to understand why that was the case. We’re clear on where our opportunities to improve are moving into next year which is not always the case in early August.”
Farrell said the Grubbers need to find more avenues to goal next year.
“No doubt offensively we have to go up a level and be able to apply more scoreboard pressure,” he said.
“Our greater defensive focus in the second half of the season made it really hard work for our forwards, but we spent a fair bit of time with the group around the why and what a good game might look like when outnumbered there.
“We have so many selfless players in our team that accepted their roles and competed really well but will be busting to kick a few themselves or assist in more goals when we return greater balance to our defence and attack.”
