TIM O'CONNOR: There's some handy inclusions into the side this year, but it's hard to see the Wickers figuring in the top eight.

Samuel Gibson 12

Joel Antonio 10

Ricky Pearson 4

Liam Blake 2

Paul Phillips 2

Tom Walmsley 1

Aaron Sedgwick 1

Alex Lovel 1

Matt Miller 1

nil

Season 2019 was much of the same for the boys at Creswick.

There was some joy, some competitive displays and some heavy beatings by the top sides, but ultimately it ended with missing a place in the finals.

The Wickers broke a long hiatus from the playoffs with back-to-back appearances in 2012 and 2013, however they have since failed to reach those heights.

Creswick has rarely had any of the top stars of the competition and often relies upon a strong work ethic and the entire 22 players pulling their weight.

And it was again the case this year. The Wickers failed to have any players in the Central Highlands Football League's team of the year nor inside the top 10 of the Geoff Taylor Medal leaderboard.

The 2019 campaign began in strong fashion with three wins from the opening four rounds. But when things started to get tougher, the cracks started to show.

Creswick only won two more games for the rest of the season, but managed to topple arch-rivals and premiership contenders Newlyn in a memorable round nine showdown.

Liam Blake, who enjoyed a strong campaign as the club's leading goal-kicker, booted the match-winner shortly before the final siren to send the local fans into raptures.

This was a clear highlight for the Wickers and lifted the side right to the fringe of the top eight at the mid-way point of the year.

Disappointingly, they never won another game and copped some savage defeats at the hands of Buninyong and Hepburn in the run home.

A three-point loss to Beaufort, which was held to just a solitary major in the wet, was also hard to take.

Joel Antonio, who returned to the club for its 150th-year celebrations, was perhaps the shining light for Creswick and performed well to take out the best and fairest award.

Blake and fellow junior products Pat Taranto and Josh Mitchell also showed they were well and truly up to senior football.

Ryan Knowles is on board again as senior coach of the club and must recruit some top-end quality to give his squad a chance at climbing the table.

It's a simple philosophy, but it's what the Wickers desperately need so they can start matching the better teams in the competition.