NEW Keilor Park coach John Mangos knows his side is more than likely in for a tough season ahead.
The Devils are coming out of recess after failing to field a team in Strathmore Community Bank Division 2 last season and have had to re-build their entire senior men’s operation from scratch.
The priority for Mangos was to simply get a team out on the park, and the Devils are well and truly on track to do that when they host Hadfield this Saturday.
“I’d say it has been tough,” Mangos said of his club’s pre-season.
“Our biggest win has been being open and honest with people.
“(Vice-captain) Mark Caruana probably brought four or five of his mates, which has helped us out, so we’ve been lucky in that sense.
“But I don’t know what (the team) is going to be like in Round 1, so we’re all going to learn about ourselves together.”
More than 25 players have been cleared to the Devils over the summer and there is some quality among them.
Luke Furci (Epping) will be the key target up forward and has been announced as the club’s captain, while midfielders Jake Gatto (Tullamarine), Ricky Bertolini (Woodend-Hesket), Mark Caruana (Taylors Lakes) and Kane Trotter (returning from the 2017 side) will all play vital roles throughout the season.
However, many of the remaining positions in the likely best 22 will be largely made up of youngsters.
Mangos, who previously coached Pascoe Vale’s women’s side, admits it will take time for his group to learn his game plan but is confident it will eventually start clicking as the season progresses.
“I trust my game plan,” he told essendondfl.com.au.
“I did it at other clubs and was successful.
“It might take a year or two for our boys to understand it properly, but I’ve just got to bring it all back to basics at first and make sure we just slowly add to it gradually each week.
“But it might be about Round 6 or 7 before we hit our straps, because I still think we’re about five weeks behind.”
With the win-loss ratio not a huge priority, Mangos is willing to release the shackles in the early parts of the season.
“I just want to let the guys play,” he said.
“I’m not going to let them worry about scores and I won’t worry about scores, either.”
2019 DRAW
