It's probably easiest to let coach Jarrett Giampaolo identify what plagued Redan this season.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
"We think a lot about concentration across a game of football. The competition is really tight and most teams you come up against are really good. If you're not concentrating on your role or boys drops out for five or 10 minutes, then that's when teams get going against you," he said after the Lions' round eight loss to Sebastopol.
Redan only won two quarters in a row in four of its 10 matches this season - round two against Melton South, round three against Ballarat, round nine against Sunbury and round 10 against Darley.
The Lions won all four of those games. Their only other victory came in round seven against Lake Wendouree, thanks largely to a seven-goal opening quarter.
Consistency was in Redan's remit. It's other problem was not.
Giampaolo was left managing one of the most injury-depleted lists. His captain Liam Hoy suffered a season-ending Achille's injury in round three. Ruck Orren Stephenson did not play his first game until the last day of July.
Then there were the constant setbacks. Patrick Britt could only play half a season, Brandon Green managed four games, and Chris Giampaolo was sidelined for five weeks.
The injuries weren't just a loss of talent, but a deprivation of on-field leadership.
"Not having your captain (Liam Hoy) and one your most experience players (Orren Stephenson) out there hurts. But it just mean players have to step up," Giampaolo said in the latter stages of the season.
"We need some young guys to decide that they're senior footballers now.
"Whether it's this year, next year, or the year after, if we can keep this group together then that leadership starts developing and you become a more consistent team."
Time favoured the Lions' youth and the season's first COVID interruption proved a handy tonic.
Before the season's first three-week break Redan was reeling in ninth.
Two solid wins against Melton South and Ballarat were prefaced by a season-opening loss to minor premier North Ballarat, and followed by a bye and two heavy defeats at the hands of Bacchus Marsh and Melton.
The first game out of lockdown went well enough. A 40-point win against Lake Wendouree was enough to rise to seventh, equal on points with Sebastopol in third.
A subsequent loss to the Burra could be worn, but pressure rose with each misstep.
A must-win game against Sunbury was marked by the worst conditions for the season. Temperatures below zero, coupled with wind and rain, heralded a contented slog that Redan weathered to stay seventh.
It wouldn't be until the next weekend and a 17-point win against Darley that the Lions re-claimed a finals spot for the first time since round four.
Redan was sitting in sixth when the season's next COVID break arrived.
Cooper Craig-Peters had been one of the season's revelations before the second disruption.
The young midfielder was twice named the Lions' best-on-ground in the four week stretch between the two lockdowns and only once missed selection in his team's best.
Craig-Peters was a constant near the top of The Courier's player of the year leaderboard and was a vital cog in the final hopeful's game.
He'd proved a massive loss in what would be Redan's final game on the season's return, having been called up to make his VFL debut with the Footscray Bulldogs.
The Lions entered it's affair with East Point sixth and buoyed by the return of Orren Stephenson.
Three hours later they would be 79-point also-rans and down in eighth - a bad place to be on the home-and-away season's sudden abandonment.
It was a tough year for Redan, but one punctured by irregularities few could prepare for.
There is no way of predicting a good run of form will have the handbrake put on it by a COVID outbreak. Or that several members of the leadership group would hardly be able to take to the field.
A season without finals for Redan, but an important year nonetheless for a proud club's next steps.
RECORD
8th, 5 wins, 5 losses, 20 points, 88.96 per cent
Rd 1: def by North Ballarat, 11.9 (75) to 13.15 (93)
Rd 2: beat Melton South, 14.12 (96) to 14.11 (95)
Rd 3: beat Ballarat, 19.12 (126) to 10.12 (72)
Rd 4: BYE
Rd 5: def by Bacchus Marsh, 1.12 (18) to 10.13 (73)
Rd 6: def by Melton, 8.14 (62) to 19.12 (120)
Rd 7: beat Lake Wendouree, 13.11 (89) to 7.7 (49)
Rd 8: def by Sebastopol, 8.17 (65) to 10.14 (74)
Rd 9: beat Sunbury, 5.8 (38) to 2.5 (17)
Rd 10: beat Darley 9.18 (72) to 7.13 (55)
Rd 11: def by East Point, 7.10 (52) to 19.17 (131)
If you are seeing this message you are a loyal digital subscriber to The Courier, as we made this story available only to subscribers. Thank you very much for your support and allowing us to continue telling Ballarat's story. We appreciate your support of journalism in our great city.