Tara Murray
The Western Rams believe they are on the right track to break through for their first win in the Riddell District Football League since 2018.
The Rams have done a lot of hard work off and on the field in the last few years to try and get things back on track.
Rams coach Marty Weaver said the club was heading in the right direction. The Rams finished bottom under Weaver, who was was coaching the side for the first time, after the 2020 season was called off.
“One of my aims when I came in was to make the club a place people wanted to come and play and not feel like they are pressured to.
“Past players have identified that and are starting to come back. We were able to set out what we achieved, now It’s about getting success on the board with a couple of wins and hopefully that happens this year.”
Weaver said he wanted to be ruthless with his recruiting, but COVID had made things harder than he would have liked.
The club, like many others, has found many players have decided to give up playing or sticking with their existing clubs.
Despite that, Weaver and his team have managed to bring in 10 new recruits who will make a difference. He said this would not only help the senior team, but provide much needed depth in the reserves which has been lacking.
“We have recruited well,” he said. “We’ve picked up 10 recruits that will fit into our side and make us stronger.
“Ricky and Harley Cameron have both come back and will play in the midfield.
“Dean Chadband will be a full time ruckman.
“Matthew Hayes is a premiership player at Glen Orden, while we’ve got a full forward in Josh Jamieson.
Matthew Voigt is another former Ram returning to Ian Cowie Reserve.
Weaver said the arrival of Chadband and Jamieson would add some more height and experience to the side.
He said Chadband would be one of the ruckman to beat in the competition.
“We had some tall players that weren’t experienced enough to play ruck or forward.”
Coming off a season where the losing margin was just under 100 points, Weaver knows that they still have a long way to go.
The Rams last win came on May 5 2018.
He said the scoreboard last year didn’t really show the growth and development of the side.
“We reduced our average losing margin from 230-odd points to 98 points. If we drop that by another 120 points, that should tell us we will win a game this year,” he said.
“We’re working hard on the style of footy we want to play.
“We had no issues winning the ball, but we struggled to convert once we got forward.
“Some of our defenders will be rolling forward and we will be a lot stronger.”
“The club can only go forward from here.”
The Rams will start their season on April 2 against Melton Centrals.
