East Geelong coach Ned Aulsebrook says the disappointment of last year’s straight-sets exit from the GDFNL finals hasn’t been mentioned during this pre-season.
For the second time in three years, the Eagles, who are in practice match finished as minor premier only to have their hopes of a first premiership since 2009 dashed by consecutive losses.
Last year – Aulsebrook’s first in charge at Richmond Crescent – East Geelong finished with an impressive 16-2 win-loss record, including 16 consecutive wins from Round 2 onwards.
However, a surprise loss to Winchelsea was a portent for what was to come, as the Eagles fell grand finalists Belmont Lions and Thomson in consecutive weeks.
“There’s a lot of new guys,” Aulsebrook said. (But) I’m sure there are individuals within the group that are hurting.
“And I’d say most of the guys that played last year would have some sort of, I don’t know, drive from it.
“But it’s not something we’ve openly spoken about or addressed.
“We reviewed it afterwards, and some things needed to change in the way we wanted to play, that’ll stack up in a finals-like environment.
“We’ve been working towards that over the last three or four months, and some guys we’ve brought across are going to help that side of things too, I think.”
East has been strengthened by the return of Ryan Lempa from St Arnaud and the signing of former Modewarre captain Jeremy Ollis.
However, the arrival of key forward Andrew Steele after 176 goals in 127 games with Newcomb looms as the piece in the puzzle that can take the Eagles to that elusive premiership.
Aulsebrook, who is unlikely to play until after Easter as he finalised his recovery from shoulder surgery, is looking forward to having a sideline view of East’s setup with Steele partnering Caleb Ezaerd during the club’s practice matches, starting against Bellarine club Ocean Grove at Ray Menzies Oval on Thursday night.
“You have to sort of have a real good look at how you structure up your forward line around someone like that,” he said.
“Because we only ever really had one tall and now we’ve got to have another look at that.
“It’s working really well at training and probably benefiting from me not being in at the scrimmage.”
Former St Mary’s underage duo Jude Payne and Jack Wilson impressed in match simulation against Newcomb last month and are likely to get a chance to press their claims for Round 1 selection during the practice matches.
“They’ve only had one hit out against men, and it was very impressive when they played Newcomb,” Aulsebrook said.
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