Glenroy coach Addam Maric has declared his team is eyeing premiership glory in 2025 after a red-hot start to the season.
The Roys were not tipped as a flag contender during pre-season but have claimed convincing wins over Burnside Heights (68 points), Northern Saints (22 points), and Westmeadows (26 points) - the competition's three remaining finalists from last year - to sit atop the Strathmore Community Bank Division Two ladder as the only team with an unblemished record.
The club has endured a barren three seasons, winning just six games and falling from Premier Division to the third tier.
But Glenroy appears rejuvenated under the leadership of first-year coach Maric, who played 31 games for Melbourne and Richmond at the top level and also starred for Greenvale in the top flight.
While Maric is acutely aware the campaign is only in its infancy, he said the Roys had high hopes of proving their doubters wrong.
"Some people might call me crazy, mate, but we've said we're going to win the flag this year from back in November when we started," Maric said.
"Improvement's good, but we want to win the grand final for sure.
"The squad was full of talent before I got there. We topped it up quite nicely.
"Now we've got a squad of probably 35 to 40 that you'd be happy to play senior footy. We've definitely got the squad to do it, but it's very early still. A lot of footy to be played."
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Maric said a strong pre-season had laid the platform for the Roys' flying start.
He said they had not exceeded expectations in their first three outings, pointing to the fact that Glenroy lost six games by 14 points or less in Division Two in 2024 and also claimed two draws.
Maric said the eighth-placed finish with four wins was not a true reflection of where the club sat.
"We definitely weren't a team or a squad that should have probably finished there, in my opinion anyway," he said.
"We have a quiet confidence with the squad that we had from last year, and then the guys that we've added. And then if you add the pre-season that we've had, credit to the boys, they've bought in.
"Hardly any of them missed a session. They gave it their all every single session. I can't remember us having a bad session.
"You're never quite sure how it's going to pan out. But to say that it's overachieved, I wouldn't say that, no. I'd say we're back where we thought we might be.
"When you get some continuity and you get a group of 40 or 50 guys doing the same thing two to three times a week, and really buying in, then you're going to get improvement.
"And sometimes, (it's) just a fresh voice. I'm no Ron Barassi, I can tell you that. It's just a full club buy-in from the top."
The signings were headlined by former Pascoe Vale star Julian Hemala, who made 19 senior appearances last season as the Panthers progressed to the grand final.
Joint vice-captain Hemala, who also had a stint at Greenvale, has been named in his side's best players twice from three games.
"Jules was one of the premier defenders in the Premier comp for I think six to eight years," Maric said.
"Adding someone like that who's played at the highest level at EDFL and played in a grand final the previous year and has played with a lot of AFL players or VFL-listed players as well, he just adds a heap of experience. The way he trains, he's our best trainer by a mile.
"The boys have just learnt a heap off him. Also, when the boys play around him, they just have a lot more confidence knowing that he's there. He brings a heap to the squad, to the club."
Aaron Dimatteo (Airport West), Joshua Blake (Essendon Doutta Stars), Saeed Abdul-Wahed (Northern Saints), Ahmed Abdul-Wahed (Northern Saints), El-Amir Abdul-Wahed (Northern Saints), Jonathan Roccuzzo (Greenvale), and Joseph Vaccaro (Greenvale) were other key recruits.
Skipper Tanner Nilsson and joint vice-captain Daniel Ferraro have again led the way this season, while Cody Wight and Lachlan Cox have also impressed.
Glenroy showed its potential as a force on Anzac Day, piling on eight goals to one in the last term to turn an 18-point three-quarter-time deficit into a stirring wet-weather victory over last year's runner-up Westmeadows.
"It's massive ... But, look, to do it in the way we did as well, we weren't playing great footy for the first half, and then we put it all together in the second half," Maric said.
"The guys are really starting to believe that what we're doing, and what we've been doing since November, is good enough to measure up against the best.
"In terms of a full-quarter team performance, and ticking all the boxes, it's going to be hard to go past a (last) quarter like that, for sure."
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In another boost for Glenroy, Maric hoped to make a return to the field later in the season.
"There's a big chance I'll play later in the year. But we'll just see how we go. If the boys keep going the way they're going, there might not be a spot for me," he said.
"If we keep winning, happy to stay on the sidelines, but yeah, I'm neither here nor there just yet. I don't think I've played my last game of footy. When and where that is, I'm not sure."
The Roys will look to remain undefeated when they face East Sunbury at John McMahon Reserve on Saturday.
The fixture will be the Nelson Alexander EDFL Match of the Day on Streamer and 98.9 North West FM, with coverage starting at 2pm.
