Learmonth coach Nick Willox had been optimistic through the club's pre-season preparations and will stay on for at least another year to see if he can deliver the club a long-awaited return to finals.
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Willox has been reappointed to a fourth season as senior coach of the Lakies and is looking towards a large group of under-18 graduates to be a key part of the side's on-field improvement.
The playing leader said he was keen to continue on as coach given the strong mix of young players and experienced heads at the club.
"We had a really good pre-season, they started to gel a bit more and our game plan was starting to be developed to a point where we needed it to be to improve our win-loss ratio," he said.
"I think the positives were all there in pre-season and that's what we want to keep building on."
Willox took over at the helm from Steve Biggin at the end of the 2017 season, but has failed to make finals in that time.
Learmonth finished 12th on the ladder with six victories last year.
"We had a fair bit of momentum. Even though we hadn't played finals the two years before, we were still getting direction and I was still finding my feet coaching the team and our list and that kind of stuff," Willox told The Courier.
"I think it all started to feel like it was gelling into one and that's what we want to keep building off."
Willox said the transition of under-18 players into the senior ranks was a major focus for the club.
"Next year it will be about 20 under-18s come through, which we are maintaining 90 per cent of those," he said.
"Our club vision is promote our internal guys as much as possible and really build our list off Learmonth people."
Learmonth president Steve Griffin said Willox was the man to lead the senior group.
"We always believe we need more assistance in the coaching department, and we are always looking for assistance to help Ox, but we want him to be our leader," Griffin said.
"He's well respected, hes got a good game plan and club plan."
Before joining Learmonth, Willox had coaching experience with Wickliffe-Lake Bolac in the Mininera and District league and landed the premiership during the first of two seasons at the helm in 2013.
He played at Redan before joining the Lakies.
Willox is currently nursing a badly injured ankle, which he sustained about seven weeks ago.
The Central Highlands Football League called off all grades of seniors and reserves in June and got through four rounds of junior competition before that season was abandoned in early August after another round of stage three COVID-19 restrictions were announced for regional Victoria.
