Tullamarine has enjoyed an eye-catching start to the Community Bank Strathmore Division One season as it attempts to end a three-year absence from finals.
The Demons were touted as a big improver after a bumper off-season of recruiting and have justified the hype with back-to-back wins over flag contenders Avondale Heights and Oak Park.
They unveiled West Coast premiership player Willie Rioli in Saturday's 34-point victory over the Kangaroos, the small forward playing a key role in the upset result.
"Willie's really good friends with Jake Long and Jake's brother-in-law Jack Williams, who's come on board. They grew up together with Willie in the NT," Tullamarine coach Zack Carey said.
"Willie just really wanted to play with what he calls his family. He loves giving back to community footy and he was really interested. We had a couple of preliminary chats and he came down on the weekend and he was an absolute delight to have around the club. He was unbelievable. It exceeded my expectations by a long, long way.
"He walked into the change rooms and made sure he got around to every player and introduced himself; not the other way around. He got around to every kid who was at the game, whether they were Oak Park or Tullamarine it did not matter. He got around to all the supporters. He's just a really, really good person.
"He loved his time and he's looking forward to doing it a couple more times this year."
Carey said he was hopeful the club's latest star signing, who lives in the Northern Territory, would play enough games to feature in finals should Tullamarine qualify.
While Rioli managed just one major against Oak Park, Carey said the 30-year-old's class was on show after his 109-game career at the elite level ended in 2025.
"He only got the one goal on the board, but he probably set up another five or six. It was really evident how much of a team player he is and how much he brought the other boys into the contest. He didn't have to be the one on the end of it to kick the goals," Carey said.
"He was doing a lot of teaching for the young boys out there as well, which was great."
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On the negative side, the Demons will be without champion full-forward Josh Covelli indefinitely due to a medical issue.
Covelli joined the club from Hillside over summer after back-to-back 100-goal campaigns which included claiming the Hutchison Medal in 2024.
Covelli contributed three goals in his side's season-opening loss to Craigieburn.
"He's got our full support. Obviously he's got a young family and a business, and that's what's most important," Carey said.
"At the end of the day, footy is a hobby that we all love.
"We've put no timeline on it. Josh will be back at some stage, but that will happen when it happens.
"There's no pressure from us and we're right behind him."
Covelli's absence leaves Tom Jackson, who has returned to Tullamarine after a stint with Lancefield, as the key man inside the attacking 50m arc.
Jackson has seven goals for the season and Carey said he had been pleased with the efforts of his forward line.
"The whole forward seven have been working really well together trying to cover that absence of Josh," he said.
Midfielder Zak Wunhym, who captained Hillside to last year's Division One premiership, has also impressed the coach, along with ex-Strathmore player Lucas Scerri.
"One of the main things I'm big on and that we've tried to do with our recruiting over the last two years is, you just don't want good footballers, you want good people. Every single one of the guys who have come in are great people. The culture's even gone to a new level and it's a really enjoyable place to be around," Carey said.
"Everyone's up and about ... it's going well at the moment, but obviously bringing good footballers in always helps on the park as well."
Carey also nominated vice-captain Salvatore Melilli, ruckman Nick Owens and defenders Dominic Micallef, Keegan Radecki, and Joquin Bugeja as other standouts.
The second-year mentor, who previously held coaching roles at Strathmore, said pressure laid the platform for the memorable win over Oak Park.
"We just wanted to bring that heat around the contest and the pressure," Carey said.
"We wanted to see how they would handle the pressure, being a side that has won the majority of their games over the last 12 months ... but also to stick to our game plan and structures and see how what we're trying to build stacks up against the best sides as well."
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Tullamarine was a perennial contender in the EDFL's second tier but has missed finals the past three seasons.
Carey said the Demons were eyeing a top-five berth this year and had discussed ambitions to earn promotion to Premier Division.
"When I first came over from Strathmore, we said we don't want to be there just to make up the numbers. We knew it wasn't going to be an easy or a quick fix. We wanted to do it the right way and continue to bring young blood in and guys who had played at the level before, which we have done," he said.
"We want to be a side, if we can get up there (to Premier), we stay there. We don't want to just bounce up and down. But we know how hard that will be, and the first challenge is trying to win it at Division One level, which is probably harder than anything.
"We'll continue to fight for that. Obviously everyone's aim is to get there, it's just a matter of how long it takes and how you do it.
"A big thing for us is continuing to help the club build the junior program. That's the best thing for sustained success with (the players who are) one-pointers."
Tullamarine (second) faces another stern test this weekend when it faces West Coburg (third) away from home.
