Tara Murray
Taylors Lakes coach Steve Burns couldn’t have asked for much more since taking over at the Essendon District Football League division 2 club.
While the Lions are yet to win a match since he can in mid-season, Burns has been nothing but impressed with the playing group.
Burns was heading into his fifth match in charge on Saturday, after replacing Charles Cuzzupi, who stood down from the role. Burns has already been appointed coach for the next two seasons.
“It has been a real eye opener,” he said. “We’ve been playing a lot of kids with eight to 10 of our best 22 out.
“We’ve been really happy with the contest. We’ve been in every game except for the last quarter against Keilor Park.
“Their efforts have been fantastic.”
Burns said when he was appointed that wins weren’t the most important thing with finals already out of the equation.
For him it had been about seeing as many players in action as possible, while getting used to the way they do things.
“We wanted to see the kids, but our hand was forced anyway,” he said. “We had a 15-year-old Rhys Bauer play his second game on the weekend.
“It’s something we’re doing and we’re okay with that. We’re hoping to play another under-18 kid this week.
“They’re learning the structures and how we want them to train. There’s a lot of potential, we just need to get the right people around them.”
Burns said the opportunity to work with the group in the back half of this season, had given the coaching staff a head start for the 2023 season.
He said they had already got to know the players not only on the field, but as young men, while getting to see them play live.
He said they were about six weeks ahead of where they would have been had they been appointed later in the piece.
While wins aren’t important, Burns said it would be nice to see the group get some reward for effort.
“We should have won on the weekend, but we lost on the siren,” he said. “I feel for the boys, they deserved to win as they are working hard for it.
“Coburg Districts and Burnside Heights will be tough to beat in the last two. We’re not really interested in results but about the processes and the processes have been good can not knock them.”
Burns said despite wins being few and far between in recent years, the vibe and the bond at the club remained really strong.
The Lions lost to Coburg Districts on Saturday.
