The Doncaster Sharks are entering 2021 with a point to prove.
After being kept to only four wins in 2019, they are hungry to force their way back into finals contention and compete with the Premier Division’s best.
Senior coach Stuart Kemperman said the focus in preseason has just been getting the players back up to speed and re-establishing training standards.
“We almost got to a point where we hadn’t had training for so long because of no footy, we sort of forgot what the standard was we had set in previous years,” Kemperman said.
“However, for us, we’ve certainly seen continued growth in our fitness and in our skills across the preseason and I hope to see some more growth going forward as well,”
“I suppose a big aspect will be once we start playing practice matches and the season proper, seeing how we stack up against everyone else.”
Kemperman reiterated the uncertainty that has come as a product of 12 months without footy. The Sharks coach said they need to focus on controlling what they can control in their own backyard.
Stewart Kemperman is eyeing a return up the ladder in 2021.
“It’s a matter of how we front up against the competition,” Kemperman said.
“But definitely I think in this preseason we’ve seen growth and that’s really positive.”
Doncaster’s list is set to look pointedly different to the one it had in 2019.
Following a big recruiting spree prior to the cancellation of 2020 and with some exciting youngsters looking to establish senior roles, Kemperman said there’s been no shortage of player turnover.
“Prior to 2020 we were able to acquire Jake Spencer from the VFL, overall we had a good go at some guys at that VFL sort of level and we were able to get them,” he said.
“So they’re all guys we haven’t seen yet.”
Mixing up the list even more are the returns of some notable players who missed large chunks of 2019 due to injuries or overseas travel.
“From an injury point of view, we have players that missed a large chunk of that 2019 season who have now been training like Ewan McKenzie and Todd Vander Harr,” Kemperman said.
“We think with that in and of itself we should see some improvement but it’s really just a matter of how much better everybody else is and what they front up like.
“Some of the young guys like Liam Coghlan look really ready to stamp their marks on senior spots too.
“We just have to wait and see how it all comes together but from an on-field point of view we’ll look vastly different to what we did in 2019.”
Kemperman said he believes his new and improved list will help the club take big strides towards relevancy in Premier Division.
“Certainly, we don’t want to be down that end (bottom) of the table anymore,” he said.
“We want to bounce back and put ourselves in contention to play finals and compete with the upper quadrant of our competition.
“That’s exactly what we want and what we expect from our players and we’re trying really hard to drive high standards on the training track.
“The guys have been terrific, I suppose in some ways the year long hiatus has heightened their thirst for footy and they have stepped up accordingly.
“Hopefully it all comes together and shows itself on game day.”
Between now and round one there is plenty of time for all clubs to train hard and get themselves as ready as possible for the start of the season.
Kemperman said his most important goals in that time will be maintaining health amongst his players, refining his team’s game plan and building continuity within the new list.
“That will obviously come largely from practice matches and more time in match simulation settings at training,” he said.
“I think we’ve got to get through those and keep a good bill of health and continue to put work into players that need it and get that continuity going.
“We’ve got a lot players returning from injury or travel overseas, players that are new to the club and all our players haven’t played for a year, so I think that continuity of playing together is going to be really important if we’re going to get to round one in good shape.”
Doncaster start their 2021 campaign with a trip to Cheong Park to take on South Croydon.