FOR reasons out of their control, the Sunshine Kangaroos were unable to live up to the lofty expectations thrust upon them in the lead-up to the Western Region Football League division 1 last season.
The injury curse struck the Kangaroos like no other club in the competition and crippled their playing stocks to the point of lacking competitiveness against the elite teams.
Kangaroos coach Brett Jacobs told the Weekly something had to be done to at least try to combat the threat of injuries ahead of the 2012 season and he took a novel approach to the task.
“We’ve taken an approach that might seem a bit unusual,” he said.
“We were getting a lot of injuries and never used to do a lot of physical contesting stuff at training, so we’ve reversed the cycle and done a lot of contesting work and tried to toughen up the bodies to get used to it.”
The physical preseason seems to have worked for the Kangaroos.
The medical room has not been visited as frequently and the bulk of the players are available for the crucial opening round derby date with Sunshine Heights at Kinder Smith Reserve.
“We’ve been training three times a week before the practice matches and we’ve got minimal injuries at the moment,” Jacobs enthused.
“We’re much better prepared than we were this time last year.”
The Kangaroos will be a high rotation team this season.
They have found the benefits of shorter but more frequent spells on the bench for their midfielders in practice matches against Maffra, Hepburn and Sunbury.
They have done it with a twist, rotating predominantly midfielders and leaving the backs and forwards settled.
The reaction from the players have been overwhelmingly positive about the use of the bench to freshen up.
“We’re running out the games well,” Jacobs said. “They’re telling me they feel as though they could play an extra quarter.”
The Kangaroos have brought in 15 senior players, making Thursday night’s selection one of the most anticipated in some time.
The pick of the new faces are onballers Paul Sheahan (South Yarra), who has already been elevated into the club’s leadership group, and Lucas Hill (Newtown and Chilwell), along with imposing ruckman Jacob Koroneos (Keilor).
The clearances out of the Kangaroos are just as long and include former AFL player Simon Wiggins, who is bound for Airport West in the EDFL.
The Kangaroos have one mission in mind: to secure the four points in Saturday’s opener.
They don’t need any more incentive with their neighbours arriving at Lily Street with memories of beating the Roos last August.
“They beat us at their ground last year, which was a disappointing result for us,” Jacobs said.
“We won’t underestimate them, we’re focused on round one and will be working our hardest to get a win on the board.” St Albans and Deer Park will get the ball rolling in division 1 under lights as night football makes its return to the WRFL at Kings Park Reserve on Friday at 7.45pm.
Albion, last year’s runners up, travel to Spotswood for the grand final re-match with new coach Mark Greenshields at the helm.
The second round of division 2 is set to be a cracker with Albanvale facing a new-look Glenorden away at the Heathdale Oval, while Braybrook and North Sunshine are gearing up for their home openers.
WRFL
Division 1: St Albans v Deer Park (Friday night), Spotswood v Albion, Sunshine v Sunshine Heights, Altona v Port Melbourne Colts, North Footscray v Hoppers Crossing.
Division 2: Braybrook v Yarraville-Seddon Eagles, Coburg Districts v West Footscray, Glenorden v Albanvale, North Sunshine v Laverton Magpies, Parkside v Wyndhamvale.
