Tom Millar, centre, was outstanding as a goal-kicking ruckman for Sunshine and was named in the WRFL’s team of the year. 82854_04 Picture: KRISTIAN SCOTT
By ADEM SARICAOGLU
THE final ladder isn’t always the best indicator for how a football club performed in a given season, but in Sunshine’s case, their fifth-placing was just right.
With the exception of round five’s one-point loss to Albion, the Kangaroos beat every team that finished below them in 2012 but couldn’t get close to any of the clubs above.
Their 9-9 record was good enough to snare a finals’ berth, but the Kangaroos were knocked out by Hoppers Crossing in week one.
Coach Brett Jacobs said his side was competitive throughout the year, but the final ladder was the perfect indicator of where his team rates among the best clubs in the WRFL.
“Maybe we weren’t good enough or maybe we let ourselves down, that’s the question we can’t really answer with any confidence,” Jacobs said.
“But we know that we’re not too far off those sides, given the fact that we were able to be more than competitive with them.”
In terms of improvement, Jacobs rated 2012 as a success despite the Kangaroos losing three straight games leading into the finals.
“They were three of the top four sides in the competition, so it was a tough run home,” he said.
“We had our chances and maybe that was just a bit of maturity.
“The more games our younger guys play, the more mature they’ll get and maybe next year we’ll be able to close out a few of those games.”
Sunshine’s youth were given plenty of opportunities to impress as injuries took their toll throughout the year.
Star defender Danny Jacobs’ troubled hamstrings forced the former Essendon and Hawthorn gun into retirement after managing just 10 games during the first half of the year.
Captain Macauley Goring stepped up to the plate to fill Jacobs’ role, but when Goring himself went down with a minor knee injury in round 15, the Kangaroos back line was left exposed.
“He was a significant omission from the side but he got back for the final,” Brett Jacobs said.
“Joe Hedditch missed a lot of footy this year as well and he’s a pretty important player to our structure.
“But every side has injuries and I suppose that’s probably the strength of the top two or three sides.
“They’re able to cover them a little bit better or they manage their injuries a little bit better and we’re certainly looking at closing the gap and then improving in that area again.”
Jacobs said the club’s focus will now be to increase its depth ahead of 2013.
“We’ll probably try to strengthen our back half a little bit, and we maybe just need one extra burst player through the midfield.”
