SWAN Hill will head into the final five games of the season with their 2025 plans already secure, after current coach Michael Herlihy recommitted for next season in a club announcement this week.
Herlihy is well regarded within the club, having arrived from South Bendigo and taking the coaching reigns from Cal Beasy at the end of last season.
It was an easy decision to sign on again for Herlihy, who told The Guardian that despite the wins not coming until recently, the improvement shown by the playing group was a key factor in his decision.
“We’re not far away,” Herlihy said.
“If you look at our results, we haven’t been blown away in any games this season bar one despite not getting the wins.
“The main thing is that we keep showing that improvement, which is one of the main reasons why I re-signed.
“I don’t think we’re far away from being one of those sides that challenges for finals, and the people around the club, from the boys I coach to the support staff and the families at the club, it’s a brilliant club to be at and I feel right at home there, so it was an easy decision in the end.
“It’s just a real family club, we’ve obviously had a tough run over the first eight or nine games, but the support never wavered from the football club.
“Everyone was right behind me and the playing group and it’s a great sign of a great club having that support, regardless of the results on the field.
“They back you in and they understand that there is a process and now that we’ve got a couple of wins on the board, we’re moving forward now.”
Those wins, over Koondrook-Barham and Tooleybuc-Manangatang in their past two matches, came at a crucial time for the Swans, who lost their first nine matches.
Herlihy was candid in his assessment of the Swans’ start to the season, but was also quick to point out that as a developing team, they were on the right path to future success regardless of their early season results.
“To be brutally honest, I think we’ve underachieved as a football club this year,” Herlihy said.
“You can’t change results and we haven’t been consistent enough in games to get the wins on the board.
“But with that said, we’ve felt like we’ve been in every game and we just needed some reward for effort.
“Now that we’ve got a couple of wins … we want to make sure this week and every week, we are giving a similar effort and whether we win or lose.
“We still want to play a certain way so we can continue that improvement and see the development from the start of the year to now.
“I often speak about the result not being the most important factor in game.
“It’s not about the scoreboard but about playing the way we want to play, and taking that into next week and into next year.
“Now that I’ve signed on for next year, I suppose that says to the group that I’m in it for the long haul and I think that will give them a bit of confidence to come along for the ride.
“Obviously we still want to win games this year, but also build towards next year to keep building and keep developing to be a challenging side.”
The Swans will get a perfect gauge as to how far they’ve come tomorrow, when they host Woorinen, who beat them by 40 points in the opening round of the season.
After the Tigers last Saturday became just the second team to beat ladder leaders NNW United, the visitors would provide the perfect test for Herlihy and his charges.
“Saturday will be a great challenge for us, and it’s probably come at the right time for us too,” Herlihy said.
“We’ve got two wins and that’s great, but now we want to try and shape that top five.
“Obviously we aren’t going to make the finals, but we’d love to knock off a few sides on the way home.
“It might be an upset in terms of ladder position, but we need to take a scalp and we’re desperate to take one.”
