ITS DOMINANCE was crippled only on the final day of last season and for Old Collegians, grand final heartbreak is spurring plans for a tilt at a drought-breaking premiership.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Josh Reichman-led Warriors cleared last year’s Warrnambool and District football home-and-away season without a loss, but fell unexpectedly to Nirranda in the grand final.
Now, a summer of hard work at Davidson Oval is motivating Reichman’s men to make amends for the disappointment of 2016.
“For us, last season was a long one. We left it pretty open to the guys before Christmas with some alternate sessions,” Reichman said.
“Some of our guys probably needed a bit more of a break but some of the younger fellas we have around the club who are pushing for senior selection really took part in the extra sessions.
“After Christmas we’ve had some group sessions and we’ve pretty much been eager to get back into it and to get back on the track.”
The second-year head coach said the Warriors had a number of potential signings training with the club, but had only officially signed former Deakin University forward Jimmy Crawford to date.
He was hopeful of announcing more new faces in the lead up to the new season.
Reichman said motivation was at an all-time high as the club geared up to contest the top-three spots with a host of improving teams after the club began training consistently almost one month ago.
“I’ve always said these guys are a very motivated group,” he said.
“We let ourselves down a little bit last year after putting ourselves in such a good spot.
“We know what we have to do now though and it’s about being disciplined, like we were last year.”
In an off-season jam-packed with player movement, Reichman said he expected the top-three to be air-tight.
“It sounds like there will be a few teams up there and the top three will be pretty tough,” he said.
“I reckon our first goal, without looking too far ahead, will be to just get into that top three.
“I think we learned last year that you can afford to have a bad week and to take that second chance in the top three, but our bad day came at the wrong time.
“We probably didn’t get the opportunity to have that bad week and to reset ourselves last year.”
Old Collegians, the reigning minor premier, will be out for revenge against a new-look Nirranda outfit in a grand final rematch for round one, on April 1.
