Sebastopol Vikings coach Corey Smith says the process does not change for his group as it looks to make the step-up to Football Federation Victoria state league three.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
The Vikings earned promotion last season after winning 13 matches to finish second on the ladder and then winning its two playoff matches.
Smith acknowledged it was a reasonable step-up to state league three, but not an insurmountable one.
Smith said it was a matter of applying the same mindset as it did last season and focusing on gaining as many points as it could each time it sets out onto the pitch, rather than setting clear ladder position-minded goals.
"The process doesn't change in how we approach the season and how we look at accumulating points,” Smith said.
"We're setting out at the start of the next season the same as we did last season, approach every game to get as many points from each game as we can and then assess where we're at.
"I think we set out with the aim to get promoted again, that's the aim. But then realistic expectation and where the bar is would be lower than that.
"I think the ultimate aim in any league is to try and get promoted again, but the only way you can ever do that is to go in and accumulate points every week, we're not really looking at ladder position, we're not looking at winning the league or avoiding relegation – we're just looking at every game there's three points on the line and how many of them can we take.”
Smith said it was "tough to judge" how much of a lift in standard state league four would offer, but said his playing group would relish the fresh challenge..
While its strong squad depth, highlighted by the re-signing of all bar one senior player, would see it well equipped to handle the challenge.
"I think the players are excited for the next challenge, there was a few players getting a bit stale with playing the teams in state four every year.”
Smith said it was important to bring the same mindset to this season as the one that brought it great success through 2017, but with an even greater hunger to work hard.
Helping the cause is the appointment of Anton Maggi as goal-keeper coach.
It is the first time the Vikings have had a full-time coach dedicated to keeping, which Smith said would be huge to continuing its improvement.