PANTON HILL coach Dean Haydock says belief is brewing within his side that it can be a finals contender in its first season back in Division 2.
The Redbacks currently sit in fifth spot on the ladder, with two wins from their opening five games in 2014.
They sit just one game behind last year’s beaten grand finalist Fitzroy Stars and Epping, who has just returned from Division 1.
With a simple pre-season goal to avoid relegation, Haydock said his team is beginning to re-evaluate its objectives for the season.
“The playing group is on board with me and we want a finals spot,” Haydock said.
“We’ve spoken as a playing group and discussed what we really want to achieve.
“We want to push for finals and we think we’ve got a side that’s good enough to do it if we play our kind of football.”
Both of the club’s wins this season have come under lights at the upgraded Cracknell Reserve, with the Redbacks first beating Hurstbridge in Round 3, before overrunning perennial Division 2 finalist Diamond Creek last Saturday.
The 16-point win over the Creekers helped atone for a shattering Round 4 loss to the Fitzroy Stars, where the travelling Redbacks led for all but the final 30 seconds of the game.
“We took a lot of confidence from that knowing that we can mix it with some of the stronger sides,” Haydock said of the loss to the Fitzroy Stars.
“That loss carried over to this week and the players realised that they could mix it with the best and they didn’t want to feel that hurt again. They really wanted to make amends and they managed to do just that.”
Haydock’s in-form team now faces the toughest prospect in Division 2, when it hosts unbeaten North Heidelberg.
The Bulldogs have won their opening five games this season by an average of 76 points.
“It’s going to be a very big challenge for us because they’re flying,” Haydock said.
“We’re just going to do exactly what we’ve done each week and that’s just to go out there and try to play a really good brand of football.”
