The non-playing mentor’s ambition for his first season at Terang Mortlake’s helm is simple: witness improvement.

Sargeant hopes Jake Meade’s return from a serious back injury, the inclusion of talented Northern Territorian pair Brodie Carroll and Jesse Buderick and the expected growth from their younger generation will help the Bloods respond from a three-win 2016 season.

Sam Crawley and Dylan Jones, who spent their off-seasons playing in Darwin, are expected to play key roles as are co-captains Ty Densley and Jarryd Hay, Gus Bourke and brothers Dylan and Lachie Wareham.

The latter, a promising key forward, has put his cricket ambitions on the backburner after making Greater Western Victoria Rebels’ TAC Cup list as a 19-year-old prospect.

Sargeant said the Wareham brothers – the younger siblings of former Collingwood rookie Luke Rounds and J.A Esam Medallist Corey Rounds – were impressive.

“Dylan’s taken it up another notch as well,” he said.

“He’s gotten a lot fitter so he’s going to be able to play a lot more minutes through the midfield this year.”

Sargeant, who garnered coaching experience during a two-year stint at Old Collegians before taking a four-year break, is excited to see how his Terang Mortlake side develops.

“I just want to see more improvement...the wins and losses will take care of themselves after that,” he said.

“As long as we’re doing the things we trained hard for, that’s all I can ask at the moment.”

Terang Mortlake, renowned for its toughness at the contest, focused on its ball movement from defence and skills during its summer sessions.

“From what I saw last year, we let ourselves down with our handball, and were very slow to react, so transition is the big one we’ve worked on,” Sargeant said.

Draw

R1: North Warrnambool Eagles (A)

R2: Camperdown (H)

R3: South Warrnambool (A)

R4: Port Fairy (H)

R5: Portland (A)

R6: Hamilton Kangaroos (H)

R7: Warrnambool (A)

R8: Koroit (H)

R9: Cobden (A)

R10: North Warrnambool Eagles (H)

R11: Camperdown (A)

R12: South Warrnambool (H)

R13: Port Fairy (A)

R14: Portland (H)

R15: Hamilton Kangaroos (A)

R16: Warrnambool (H)

R17: Koroit (A)

R18: Cobden (H)

2016 best and fairest

1st: Jarryd Hay

2nd: Chris Baxter

3rd: Sam Crawley

2016 most goals

1st: Chris Bant 33

2nd: Joseph Arundell 27

3rd: Paul Dirago 20

Arrivals

Jake Meade (overseas), Brodie Carroll (NTFL), Jesse Buderick (NTFL, Harrison Hobbs (Deakin Sharks), Jake Tanner (Deakin Sharks).

Departures

Paul Dirago (Melbourne), Jason Moloney (Kolora-Noorat), Damian O'Connor (Koroit), Damian Moloney (year off).

Player to watch

GUS BOURKE: A creative playmaker who can set up forward forays. Chooses the right option and can be used through the middle and attacking 50. Averaged a goal a game in 2016 from 16 appearances in his first senior season for the club in four years. Will be crucial to the Bloods' chances.