Season in review: Lancefield vastly improved but coach wants more in 2022
SEASON REVIEW: Lancefield were a 13-goal better team this season than 2019 but coach Tom Waters has pinpointed one major improvement needed.
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Erasing costly fadeouts will be Lancefield coach Tom Waters’ focus in 2022.
The Tigers were vastly improved this season, increasing scoring by 13 points per game and defence by 65 points, and secured a drought-breaking win over Melton Centrals.
Waters pointed to the Round 10 loss to Wallan as proof the RDFL club was heading in the right direction but just needed to find a new level.
The Tigers trailed by just seven points at half-time before collapsing to an eventual 115-point hammering.
“When we played Wallan we were only seven points down at half-time and in a lot of games we were right with teams early on but just didn’t have the fitness and experience to run out a full four-quarter game,” he said.
“There’d be games were we played a good three quarters but if we dropped off just for that one quarter other teams would kick nine or 10 goals and blow us away.
“From where they’ve come from there’s been a big improvement but there’s still a long way to go.
“My first year as coach, I couldn’t have asked for a better bunch of young men to coach and from where the club was there’s been a huge improvement.”
The 28-point win over Melton Centrals sparked major celebrations among the faithful at Lancefield Park.
It was the club’s first triumph over a team other than Western Rams and Broadford since 2016 and flipped 165- and 189-point losses in 2019.
“I wasn’t even aware of those sort of things but straight away after the game guys came over and said beating Melton, that’s the first time that’s happened in a long time,” Waters said.
“Beating someone other than Rockbank was one big step and I feel if we’d gotten the second half of the year in we would have beaten one of those top teams.
“We were definitely building in that direction and it’s something to look forward to next season.”
Waters’ return was a major coup for Lancefield, the star ruckman leading the club to a premiership and winning two Bowen Medals as a Tiger.
His appointment saw the likes of Jimmy Falcone, Harry Taylor, Tom Keaney, Jayden Williams, Lukas Fellows, Jay Russell, Tom Atwell and Stefan Da Riva further boost the club’s playing stocks.
After a strong recruiting campaign this season, Waters had one specific need in mind.
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“The guys down back like Luke Fellows and Tom Keaney and through the midfield Joe Slattery and Harry Taylor, all those boys were really good. James Falcone was a constant all year, busting his arse doing the hard work,” he said.
“Hopefully we can retain the players we’ve got.
“We’ve got a really good backline and good mids, probably a key forward would be definitely something we’re looking for and another ruckman, so I can retire.
“They’re not easy to find, talls, but if we can find another one or two to bring in it would be handy.”
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