FOR a proud club that has won 19 premierships since it came into the Sunraysia football league in 1945, sitting winless in the cellar after seven rounds this season must be hard to absorb.
In fact, it’s Imperials’ worst start to a season since 2012 when they lost their opening 10 games before finishing with the wooden spoon in a disastrous 2-16 campaign.
With a 0-6 start to the 2023 season, it appears the Green Machine will be fighting to avoid another wooden-spoon whack, rather than shining in September.
But playing coach Matt Dea, an ex-AFL player who made a collective 70 appearances for Richmond and Essendon between 2010-19, says it’s far too early to be writing his team off.
“We think we’re competitive,” the 31-year-old said.
“When you’re 0-6, you’re realistic about the equation to make the finals. If you say you’ve written off making the finals, you’ve effectively written off the year.”
He did, however, concede there were two main factors in why Imps were struggling.
He said third-quarter fadeouts and a mid-tier hole in their list were working against his team’s performances.
“Once the straw has been breaking in the third, our opponents have got their tails up and it’s made our job tough to get the momentum back,” Dea said.
“There’s not one specific reason this is happening. It’s probably just a by-product of having an older list and then a fair bit of inexperience with guys not having played a lot of senior footy.”
Dea said morale was still “really good” at training despite the tough start to the season.
“I can’t question the blokes’ commitment to the season,” he said.
“It’s a real credit to the group. We’re realistic about where we’re at this year.
“A lot of the senior guys have missed training through work and family commitments, but it’s giving the younger guys a chance to stand up and be a bit more of a voice in the team.”
Sunraysia Daily football analyst Ben Ridley said he didn't think Dea “can do anything more than what he is currently doing”.
“He has been virtually best on ground each week and as far as being a tactically minded coach and motivator, I place him right up there as one of the best in the comp and quite comfortably, too. If he had the right team we would be singing his praises each week,” ...
