Macleod coach Christian Stagliano has praised his side’s resilience after getting its 2019 campaign back on track following a winless opening month to the season.
Having played off in the past four Meadows Greyhounds Division 1 grand finals, Macleod underwent a coaching change over the summer, with Stagliano taking the reins from Garry Ramsay.
The start to 2019 was far from what Stagliano and the club expected, with the Roos suffering losses to North Heidelberg, Montmorency, Heidelberg and Greensborough in the opening four rounds to sit in eighth place on the ladder.
Despite a mounting injury list, the Roos were able to breakthrough for their first win in Round 5 when they scored a gutsy 19-point triumph away to Bundoora. They backed it up with a 23-point victory over Lower Plenty at the weekend.
Now just one game outside the top-five, Stagliano says all the credit lies with his playing group and their ability to keep positive despite their less than ideal start.
“I don’t think anyone could’ve handled it better,” Stagliano told NFNL.org.au.
“The way it’s been handled off-field was fantastic.
“We changed the style of play a little. There was a bit of an adjustment period but it’s still a work in progress.
“The way we were able to execute the plan that we wanted was really impressive in the Bundoora win.
“They really lifted in the last quarter and a half which is where we got the advantage at the end.”
Stagliano said it was satisfying to see the level of excitement around the club after the first win and how much it meant to everyone involved.
“The joy they had out of it was really satisfying. It was huge for morale,” he said.
“You could see the guys were genuinely excited. It felt a little bit like it was a long time coming.
“Obviously they’ve won a lot of games over these years. There was a lot of energy in the room and it was good to see how much it meant to them.”
Macleod again had to bank on a big final term to beat Lower Plenty in Round 6, with the Roos booting five goals to two in the last term to secure the victory – headlined by a best on ground performance by youngster Jordan Corelli.
While happy with the results over the past two rounds, Stagliano is fully aware of the improvement still required from his side.
“I think we still have plenty to do to be honest. Every week is a really important week for us,” he said.
“We don’t think we’re close to where we’re wanting to be yet but we’re certainly on the way to getting there. We’re on the right track.
“We certainly had really strong patches and been really positive, but we haven’t done it over four quarters.
“The weekend highlighted that, but every week has been the same – we’ve had some really positive patches but it’s just extending that out over the four quarters.”
Having had little previous exposure to the NFNL, despite being a local in the area, Stagliano says the club has exceeded his expectation, as has the competitiveness throughout the top flight.
“I heard a lot of great things about the club and the way it operated, but it’s met every expectation, and in some ways, it’s exceeded,” he said.
“It’s been really professional.
“In terms of the league, you could see from afar that the competition was even but watching it closely week to week has really surprised me about how competitive it is across the board.
“I think it’s fantastic. The more even the competition the better it is for everyone.”
Despite the slow start, Stagliano said he and the club haven’t lowered expectations for what they want to achieve this year.
“Obviously we haven’t had the greatest start and we’re behind the eight-ball, but we’re certainly not ruling anything out,” he said.
“We’re aiming for the best season possible and there’s nothing we’ve ruled out at all at this stage.”
