Deer Park head coach Marc Bullen is putting the acid on his side to get back to its best.
Deer Park has enjoyed what most sides would consider a positive start to the year, holding a 4-2 record and in second spot on the ladder.
But the Western Region Football League outfit is refusing to accept mediocrity.
Bullen said there were no excuses after dropping games to Albion and Altona.
“I don’t use motivation as an excuse,” he said. “I probably use lack of preparation and lack of respect for the opposition.
“It doesn’t matter who you play – you’ve got to prepare the same.
“For opposition sides playing Deer Park, sometimes in the past few years people might have waved the white flag.
“Now they’re sick of that and preparing as if it’s a grand final. We need to make sure we’re doing the same thing.”
Bullen is looking for improvement particularly in the forward line.
In the past three years, the Lions have had little trouble kicking a winning score.
Before this season, they had routinely scored more than 100 points against the best defensive units and gone ballistic against everyone else.
With the addition of ex-AFL forward Brendan Fevola in the off season, it appeared the trend was set to continue through 2016.
But so far this season, Deer Park has broken the triple-figure mark just once.
“It’s unacceptable with the firepower we’ve got down there,” Bullen said.
“We have had a few prime ball movers not playing, which is limiting the way we can take the footy in, and having three or four dominant forwards is still a work in progress.
“We are certainly not happy with our forward scoring ability through rounds one to six and hopefully we can change that in the course of the remainder of the season.”
Fevola enjoyed a brilliant start at the Lions, kicking 10 goals on debut.
But he kicked just six goals from his next three games.
Bullen says he’s confident another big bag is on the way for the two-time Coleman medallist.
“It’s not always about goals,” he said. “Brendan is still finding his feet in the side and with the way we bring the ball into him. He’d be disappointed with his scoring output over the last couple of games and I know he wants to rectify that.”
Deer Park will be strengthened by the return of injured stars in the coming weeks.
Leading the list of ins for the Lions will be premiership trio Jack Purton-Smith, Ryan Houlihan and Jackson Barling. Also returning will be Corey Brown and Daniel Cooper.
Following last week’s bye, Deer Park will take on bottom-of-the-ladder Wyndhamvale on Saturday.
