Tara Murray
Caroline Springs’ up and down start to the Western Region Football League division 1 season has been reflected in the results so far.
The Lakers entered the weekend’s King’s Birthday bye with a 4-4 record and in fourth spot, after a number of close results in recent weeks had tested them.
Lakers coach Brian Lake admits that it hasn’t been the ideal start to the season.
“It has been an up and down two months,” he said. “We had three season ending injuries to key players.
“We started off well, but the last four weeks we’ve been balancing availability and injuries and what not, but that’s footy.”
Lake said the losses of Mitchell Bongiovanni, Courtenay Dempsey and Timothy Speirs, who are out for the season, hurt the side with all three senior experienced players.
He said at the same time it opened up opportunities for other players to step up.
“We played a lot of younger guys last year and they’re getting more opportunities,” he said.
“We’ve been lucky with how many guys we have. We have a thirds side as well.
“Not just in the senior side, we’ve had injuries in the reserves as well. Our depth had been terrific.
“Some clubs have been struggling since after COVID to field sides, we’ve been pretty lucky with numbers.”
Sitting mid-table, Lake knows that they still have plenty of improvement left in the squad.
He said they would hopefully get some guys back from injury, while others would start to hit form.
“It’s a really even competition,” he said.
“We played Point Cook Centrals on the weekend and they’re a side to come up to division 1, it’s a big jump and they are a really competitive side that pushed us.
“Is the competition better than last year or are we a little bit down? It’s probably a bit of both.”
Lake said the bye came at the perfect weekend for the group, with a number of sore players in need of a rest.
The coach himself is one of the most thankful for the break.
“There’s a point where I have to slow down and I didn’t expect to play that many games,” he said. “You are a long time retired and I still love footy and can’t help myself.”
The Lakers this week face bottom side Hoppers Crossing.
Lake said this was an important part for their season.
“We play Hoppers Crossing and Yarraville Seddon both at home,” he said.
“It’s an important stretch and we should get some guys back and get other players into form.
“The aim is to make the top four. We’ll keep aiming for that and see what happens from there.”
Yarraville Seddon hosted Point Cook in the only WRFL match on Saturday, with the Bulldogs getting the win.
