Melton Centrals took their first steps towards climbing back up the Riddell District Football League ladder last week.
The club returned to pre-season training and began life under new coach Glenn Hopkins, who led Woodend- Hesket this year.
Hopkins said the first part of pre-season would focus on introducing his new squad to his game plan.
“We’ll be doing sessions on Mondays and Wednesdays in the lead-up to Christmas,” he said.
“In that time we are really aiming to get the players familiar with how we want them to play and the skills we want them to learn and improve on.
“There won’t be a hell of a lot of hard running or anything like that. It will be more about getting the skill base right and getting them familiar with the way we want them to play both as a team and individually.”
The Centrals are coming off a tough season in 2014, when they won just five of 16 games.
But the club has acted quickly to strengthen the playing list and has welcomed Rex Hickman to the squad.
Hickman played 20 matches for the Ballarat Swans this year, booting 18 goals. He also spent time on the backline and in the ruck, and was named among his side’s best on three occasions.
With a young squad at his disposal, Hopkins believes his club doesn’t need to get too swept up in recruiting. Instead, he’s backing his rising stars.
“A couple of other guys are going to start training with us,” he said. “We aren’t sure yet whether they will sign, but they’ll come and have a run.
“We think there’s enough upside in most of the group we had last year to really coach them and get them playing more towards their potential.
“That is what they want and, of course, the football club wants that.”
Hopkins won’t measure success in wins or losses in his early days at Centrals.
Rather, he believes one of the most important aspects of his role is strengthening the entire club.
“We want to make sure we have a sustainable footy club,” he said.
“If we get finals then we get finals, but the whole club is the important part. We need to keep growing the club and the players in it.”
