Tara Murray
The belief is growing at Albion in the Western Region Football League division 2 competition.
Having worked hard behind the scenes the last few years, the Cats are now starting to see the results on the field.
The Cats had won six games and are well and truly in the finals mix.
Speaking before the weekend’s match, Cats coach James Doherty said they were just continuing to focus on philosophy that had worked for them.
“It is a super competitive division,” he said. “We’ll see how it pans out in the next few weeks.
“Any one of six sides can make finals. As a coaching group, we don’t focus on it.
“Some of the guys are talking about it, especially the ones who have been around for a few years when the group was getting flogged every week.
“We’ll focus on the things we are doing well and look to fix things we’re not doing well. Whatever happens, happens.”
The Cats had won their last three games beating bottom side West Footscray on Saturday.
Doherty said the growth of the group had been on show in recent weeks.
“There’s consistency and belief,” he said. “We’ve had patches of play of the style of footy we have never had consistency before.
“They didn’t believe they could do it. The belief has seen a change in the way they approach the lead up and how they focus on games.
“We’re pretty much holding for four quarters of football.”
Doherty said the development of the playing group had been amazing. He said while they had a good mix of players across all age groups, many of their side was 23 or under.
“The skill level and pressure has always been there,” he said.
“It’s hard learning a new game plan and some haven’t ever had a game plan. It’s taken half a season for them to get used to it.”
While the wins have started to come through, the basic focus for the Cats hasn’t changed. Doherty said having fun was still a major part of what they want to achieve.
“Footy is an escape from life and people can be laid back and be themselves,” he said.
“Being so close can wear you down at times. If our philosophy was different, we would have lost a couple of guys.
“Winning does help the environment though and you hear a few more jokes.”
The Cats sit fourth, after Wyndhamvale lost.
Doherty said they just wanted to focus on playing consistent football and further build the platform for next season and see what happens.
“The focus now is for the guys to continue to believe in themselves and play consistent football for the whole game.
“We take on the top two teams and Wyndhamvale, which is also fighting for a finals spot.
“We want to play consistently and hold that focus for the rest of the season and for next year.
“No matter what happens, we will use it as a base for next year.”
