Tara Murray
Sunshine is heading in the right direction despite an up and down start to the Western Region Football League division 2 season.
Having come down from division 1, the Kangaroos were sitting in fifth spot after eight rounds with a 3-4 record.
Coach Ben Chapman said there had been a lot of positives so far, despite it not necessarily reflecting on the scoreboard.
“It’s been little bit up and down to be truthful,” he said. “Our best footy is some really good footy.
“When we’re not playing good foot we are a little bit off. We need to bridge that gap.
“We’re only seven games into the season. With over 50 per cent new players it was always going to take some time. We are on the right track.”
Chapman, who is also new to the club this season, said many of the players that had come to the club were still fairly young, which contributed to the lack of consistency at times.
He said while the results weren’t necessarily where they wanted them to be, they are confident that they are still around the mark.
“We are improving and we’re on the right track, it’s not all doom and gloom,” he said. ”We have a young list and new players.
“There’s been no pressure on final results, it’s about getting the stepping stones right and getting them in place.”
Another positive for Chapman is the starting to see some of the young players in the club come through.
Noah Andreula, who is 16, made her debut before the bye and went quite well. He was set to play on the weekend again.
Chapman said they had started taping their games to help them better review their games and where they need to improve.
He said they had already picked up areas which they need to work on.
“We’ve been really competitive,” he said.
“We need to limit the damage when we don’t have control of games. The biggest thing has been periods in quarters where we drop off and don’t play at a high level.
“We need to get the balance right and close the gap between our best and worst.”
Chapman said the stop start nature to the season so far hadn’t helped the group get any consistency.
He said they were looking forward to the last block of the season where they play games consistently back-to-back.
The Kangaroos faced fourth placed Wyndhamvale on Saturday after deadline.
Sunshine came away with the win, beating the Falcons, 13.7 (85)-10.6 (66).
Chapman said before the game the Wyndhamvale game was a pretty massive one for their season.
“Every game is a big game for us in this competition,” he said. “If you don’t come to play, you don’t win too often.
“We need to get our part right. It’s more about the process than results. It’s about getting the process right for larger periods then in the first seven rounds.”
