3 wins, 1 draw, 12 losses

Senior players: 38

Quarters won: 24

Best quarters: second (averaged 6-point deficit), last (highest average score, 17 points)

Worst quarters: last (averaged 10-point deficit), first (lowest average score, 14 points)

Highest quarter score: 34 points

Quarters less than 10 points: 19

BEST AND FAIREST - Daniel Kennedy

LEADING GOALKICKER - Andrew Hooper 41

9-Daniel Kennedy

8-Sam James

5-Andrew Hooper

3-Nick Weightman

3-Bailey Van de Heuvel

2-Lachie Dawson

1-Marcus Powling

1-Will Garner

It was a year which never got going.

The Swans had a busy pre-season under new coach Joe Carmody.

They landed a big name in AFL and VFL-experienced Andrew Hooper.

And despite injury issues, he delivered as a leader and the BFL's leading goalkicker.

By the end of round one though, the troubles had begun.

Two recruits, including former North Ballarat Roosters-listed Nick Weightman, were injured and hot on the heels of this two other newcomers pulled the pin and returned to their former clubs.

And then after just one more game prime pick-up Ash Munari made the call to go back to Carisbrook in the MCDFL.

This was undoubtedly unsettling, with the Swans conceding 163, 134 and 139 points in rounds two, three and four.

It was a run they never fully recovered from.

Ballarat had hardly had time to take a breath and any finals aspirations were gone.

The Swans did enough pre-season to suggest they could replicate Sebastopol's improvement of 2018 and not be too far away from the top six.

So a 10th finish was nothing short of disappointing, no matter how you look at it.

There was improvement as the season progressed.

Ballarat pushed Darley to within five points, Sunbury within 12 points and North Ballarat City within three points, and defeated Melton and Bacchus Marsh, which at the time was a finals contender.

The close losses also delivered frustration, underlining that Ballarat was clearly not where it wanted to be.

The Swans were again young and relatively inexperienced, but so too were Darley and Redan, and they played finals.

Ballarat again focused on getting games into youngsters, with Will Liston from the under-17s getting a taste and a handful of others from under-19 ranks.

The Swans also rotated first and second-year players to build their stocks.

They have to continue along that path and some how bolster the top end, which is not an easy task.

The loss of Keegan Mellington to injury early in the year hurt and unfortunately he will not be returning, with him making his way to ski slopes of Canada.

Finding a replacement on the list for him alone will not be easy.

A tall key forward has again been at the top of Ballarat's shopping list, and hopefully the recruitment of Buninyong's Jake Dunne will help fill this gap.

Ballarat needs players who can take a game by the scruff of the neck.

The Swans need to orchestrate a way of working their way up the ladder.

They would need a dramatic improvement to play finals so It is a matter of one step at a time, given it is so long since Ballarat was a contender in any form.

Coach Joe Carmody will be much better placed with regard to knowing what is required after having a year under his belt and that will be of assistance.

Andrew Hooper has largely played as a deep small forward, but if he can get his body right the Swans would probably be better served with him using his body strength and vice-like grip as a high forward.

The fixture will be play a big part what Ballarat can achieve.

If the Swans can get away with two or three early wins it might make all the difference.

The Swans will need everyone on deck to make a significant impact and begin to instill a winning culture

Ballarat finished well short of its own and outside expectations.

Finals would have been asking too much, but the Swans needed substantially more wins to hail the campaign a success.