Tara Murray
After a thumping round one win, the last thing Albanvale wanted was a bye in round two of the Western Region Football League season.
Cobras coach Andrew Bryson admits it’s not the ideal start to the season.
“I was only talking about it yesterday,” he said last week.
“It was great to get everyone out there on Saturday. We have a new women’s team and they got a win too.”
Bryson was happy with what he saw from the side in round one. Facing North Sunshine ,which has had a tough few years, the Cobras won 27.22 (184)-5.5 (35).
He said the first focus was getting everyone back on the field.
“It was pretty much to see how we go the first time playing in 18 months,” he said.
“We had seven new players and it worked well, We started off quite well, but had some slow patches.
“North Sunshine are quite young and were competitive in the first half of quarters.
“I’m quite positive with how we went.”
Bryson said one of the most positive things to come from the match was seeing how far the group had come in the last two years.
He said they had taken some of the off-field stuff to the next level.
“They were talking structures, set up and feedback to each other.
“Credit to the playing group two years ago. Everyone brought in and it continued that way throughout last year.
“Hopefully we’ll start to see the benefits for this coming through.”
This new culture has also helped the club add to the playing group.
Nathan Calleja, who kicked six goals in round one, has come across from Braybrook, while Matthew Hayes has come across from Glen Orden.
Former juniors Anthony and Justin Brook, and Corey Hall have returned to the club.
With bye this week, Bryson said it would take a few weeks before they got a clear indication of where they sit.
He said everything was aimed at performing at the pointy end of the season. The Cobras finished runners-up to Glen Orden in 2019, having claimed the minor premiership.
“Round six and seven will look completely different to what round one does,” he said.
“We’ve set our sights on being there at the end of the year.
“All our plans are aimed towards that even at round one, we wanted to work on things.
With the week off the Cobras trained Tuesday and Thursday like normal, and also did a Saturday morning session, before many of the group went and watched some of the other games.
