Lalor coach Angelo Lamanna reviews the Bloods’ first winless season
Lalor endured its first winless season in club history but coach Angelo Lamanna believed the test of character will help the club grow.
Northern
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Lalor endured its first winless season in club history in 2022.
The Bloods saw a mass exodus of players during the off-season and claimed a first NFL Division 3 wooden spoon.
However, first-year coach Angelo Lamanna believes there was real growth within the club.
Lamanna isn’t shying away from how difficult a season it was, far from it, Lalor suffered five 200-point defeats and 10 100-point losses.
The only losses less than 100 points were the three games against Reservoir with an average losing margin of 145.67.
Yet, Lamanna can see the positives and is confident of an improved showing in 2023.
“We all know it was pretty tough,” he said.
“We had to change our mindset about five or six weeks in and that was to try and get players in positions that we thought they’d be suited to next year.
“It was a development program from next year and hopefully we can recruit some players to complement the guys that have done the hard yards.
“We had a very green squad, very green football wise, and it showed in the results but credit to the blokes, our second half of the year wasn’t as bad as the first half.
“From a club that’s sitting bottom in third division, our list was strong, our club was strong, we were committed to the cause every week and that shows a real strength of character.
“In the second half of the year we were still getting 30 blokes on the track and blokes were keen to get out there.”
The club was forced to forfeit two reserve grade games due to player shortages during the season, the same as Reservoir, while Fitzroy Stars and even Division 1 club Northcote Park forfeited once.
Not a single Lalor player played all 18 games and only Dan Ray and Jarrod Langborne playing 17 and 16 games respectively.
The Bloods used a staggering 57 players at senior level in 2022.
Ray, Langborne and the likes of Dylan Cawsey, Jarryd Baldasso, Ned Hawkins and Jason Cousins performed admirably.
Lamanna credited his players for turning up every week.
“Dylan Cawsey was outstanding for the entire year, Matty Baker, a young kid, was great, Jarrad Langborne was so solid, just super,” he said.
“We had a number of kids we played in the second half of the season and showed they can play senior footy, like Jamie Meadows on the wing.
“Unfortunately, Jake (Langborne), our captain, had to leave early in the season.
Lamanna confirmed he would be returning in 2023, determined to see the hard work this year pay off.
“We’ve put the hard work in now and I want to see some results next year,” he said.
“It’s a case of taking what we’ve achieved this year into next year and top up with some quality blokes and it looks like we’re recruiting okay.
“There’s some unfinished business, they’ve showed their test of character and so will I.”
“The coaching staff enjoyed our time, believe it or not.
“The improvement the guys showed from last year and from earlier in the year, you know what the results are, but that was a good thing.”
What 2023 will reveal is an unknown.
Lalor is determined to recruit smartly over the summer to strengthen its young squad.
The Bloods haven’t beaten a club other than Reservoir since being relegated to Division 3 in 2017.
Lamanna was confident that could change in 2023.
“We certainly need some quality in there, we’ve got to try and get some key position players,” he said.
“That’s what we’re lacking but we’ll go with what we have when the times comes.
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“I’m pleasantly surprised with the interest there’s been in the place, it’s really good.
“We’ve got to keep the faith and roll on, the guys have been great.
“Mid-way through the year I sat down with the club and it was a turning point for us.
“We took the pressure off in terms of scoreboard, we just didn’t want to know about it, and focused on some small wins and that’s what we did.
“The results were a lot better and it was great to hear from opposition after games that ‘you guys were a bit different to the first half’.”
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