Tara Murray
Keilor is seeking more consistency in the back part of the Essendon District Football League premier division.
The undefeated Blues have been the standout teams both offensively and defensively, the club has had their challenges with personnel.
McGuane said changes to personnel each week had made it challenging at times.
“It’s been pretty good, but we probably haven’t had what we think our best personnel available,” he said.
“We get one back and then lose one or two. That’s the challenge of managing a playing group. We’ve played 34 players which is a huge number.
“We’re providing players for the development leagues of VFL [Victorian Football League], NAB League [Coates Talent League] and with a couple of injuries, it tests out the strength of the group.”
McGuane said one of the pleasing aspects was the continued squad mentality of the group, with players keen to take their opportunities when they present themselves.
“It’s the challenge in the community football landscape,” he said. “You pick a team and sometimes you have late withdrawal and it upsets things.
“Guys understand they have the opportunity to come into the senior team, there’s the opportunity for them to take it and perform at this level.
“Some do take it and some do not. We had a 16-year-old play against Strathmore. We weren’t afraid to put him in that situation as we’re on the journey to win games of football.”
McGuane said they were hoping the last few weeks they would have more consistency in the players they had available.
He said they would get the Coates Talent League players back for a couple of matches in a few weeks time, but would lose VFL guys at the same time.
“We want a healthy group from a numbers perspective,” he said. “No one wants to surround their spots.
“There is internal pressure which is a good thing. It only takes one or two bad games and we have to make decisions on a person. We want the players to make it hard to take them out of the team.”
The Blues faced bottom side Maribyrnong Park on Saturday.
The Blues are coming back from week off due to the split round. McGuane said the week off was just one of those things they couldn’t control and they just stuck to business as usual.
Speaking before the game, McGuane wasn’t going to take the Lions easily.
“They are more than competitive,” he said. “Sometimes those breaks are good for one team and not good for another.
“It’s always intriguing. Sometimes it can take 15-20 minutes to get themselves going, we hope that’s not us.”
McGuane would have been happy with the Blues coming away with a 27.23 (185)-6.4 (40) win.
The Blues this week face East Keilor, with another tough clash with Greenvale set down for the following week.
