BALLARAT Red Devils suffered a 3-0 defeat in Saturday’s pre-season practice match against St Albans Saints.
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But the result at Morshead Park wasn’t really what mattered.
More importantly for the club, the clash saw the return of reappointed senior coach James Robinson, who was directing traffic for the first time since stepping down from the role in November last year.
After the final whistle, Robinson left the playing group to warm down on the pitch and retreated inside to the rooms.
Here, he took time to speak to The Courier and said it was exciting to be back in charge.
Robinson said the turnout of spectators was a “great show of support” for the club, which relaunched its season with a special function on Saturday night.
“We’ll do everything in our powers to make our members proud,” Robinson said.
“We will push the boundaries and limitations to get better from last year and that’s a promise.
“This playing group have proven they are willing to do the right things.”
Robinson, who had a reintroduction to the playing group on Friday night, said he was pleased with the way the boys had returned under his care after going about their own pre-season training for the past few months.
“Now it’s all just making sure we fine tune,” he said.
“It’s all about round one. We want to build momentum and want to get the right things, but we want to get the best team as possible on the park come round one.
“Ideally, you’d like to play a lot of games where you can get more match fitness and everything else, but it’s the cards we’ve been dealt. And you play the hands and you just move on.”
Robinson said there would be at least one more practice match before the start of the season, and despite confirming there were a “few irons in the fire” was noncommittal on upcoming fixtures.
He said the squad had been on its own for 68 days and now it was about adding to that foundation.
“...We are on the right pathway,” Robinson said.
The Reds open their 2016 National Premier Leagues Victoria 2 campaign with a clash against Moreland Zebras at Morshead Park on February 20.
This begins a run of four home encounters inside the first five rounds of the season, with the only away fixture coming in round three against Saturday’s opponents.
Ballarat is looking to improve on its fourth-placed finish in the west division of the league last year.