CHFL 2019 in review: Tough year for Blues under first-year coach

TIM O'CONNOR: There were a number of good signings at Ballan during the off-season, but a few have fallen through and won't be playing with the club in 2019. That, combined with some other key departures, has hurt the Blues' chances of climbing up the table, however the side still shapes as an outside finals chance if things go right during the campaign.

Darren Tanti 15

Bradie Thomas 5

Harley Bongart 4

Michael Snaith 4

Trent Laurie 2

Hayden Thompson 1

nil

The wheels started falling off at Ballan before the season even started and it didn't really get a whole lot better for the boys in blue.

Many of the club's key signings fell through before round one and made it a tough task for first-year coach Tristan Batten.

Adding to the pain was the loss of many top players from 2018 such as former coach Jason McNamara, Sam Sher, Sam Hitchings and Jake Wilkie.

A favourable early draw saw the Blues pick up wins against Clunes and Carngham-Linton, but it was slim pickings for much of the campaign when they locked horns with some of the top sides in the Central Highlands Football League.

Perhaps the toughest period of the year was between rounds nine and 15 when Ballan suffered hefty defeats.

The Blues copped 100-point drubbings at the hands of Springbank, Newlyn, Gordon, Beaufort and Hepburn during this section of the season.

Ballan slipped from 14th to 16th and its percentage was slashed from 64.25 at the end of round eight to just 37.02 following the round 15 loss to the Burras.

In a positive, the Blues did finish the year in solid fashion. They pushed Rokewood-Corindhap and then beat Creswick in the last round of the campaign to head into 2020 with some form of momentum.

"There wasn't too many games where I went home disgusted in their performance," Batten recalled.

"Because I knew where the players were at and knew the level they were at and what they were capable of.

"I just knew some of the results were going to happen because we were coming up against better teams."

Batten said the squad really lacked key position players and was forced to have members of the side play undersized throughout the season.

Batten has recommitted to the helm for next year and knows he needs to recruit to build a more competitive outfit.

It would take a stack of off-season signings to lift the senior side into finals contention, but with a solid foundation of young players, it won't take much to see the Blues climb up the ladder next year.