After tasting the sweet premiership success that the Suns were craving, it and coach Dean Cachia are ready to take the challenge up to the revamped Western Region Football League division 2 competition.
The Suns delivered on their premiership aspirations in 2023, narrowly defeating a rampaging Albanvale in the division 3 grand final. Cachia said last year it was all about delivering a flag, however his sights have been readjusted for the upcoming season.
“I’m excited for what next year brings for us, we’re not setting our aspirations for where they were last year,” he said. “Had you asked me this time last year, I would have said it’s a premiership or it’s a failed season for us.”
“That’s the mindset that we had last year which added a lot of pressure on us and took away some of the enjoyment of actually just playing football.
“We enjoyed the premiership which was great but once we came back to training we just got down to the hard work because we know we have to take another big step back up to be competitive with the best sides from division 2.
“We’re setting our target on being able to compete week on week and hopefully have enough wins in the bank to play finals and then anything can happen from there.
“We just really need to take that next step up, and keep trying to build respect for our club, which is what we’re trying to do, it’s what I’m trying to do, it’s what I’m trying to instil in our players.”
Cachia said that while the numbers on the track aren’t at their best, the output is still there, giving him encouraging signs.
“Before Christmas we were probably getting less numbers than we were getting the same time the year before,” he said.
“But the ones that did come trained very hard and the standard of training was very much improved, which is good and that’s what we need to do because we’re stepping up to that next level.”
The glaring hole in the Suns line-up is that of the 2023 league best and fairest winner and kicker of 113 goals, Daniel Hovey. While he has departed the club it isn’t ringing alarm bells for Cachia, who himself has kicked more than 200 goals in the previous two seasons.
“We’ll just go back to playing the way we played the season before, which is at times more unpredictable,” he said.
“But of course if you told me I can have him on my side I would definitely love to have him.”
