Greenvale coach Darren Bewick can see the belief starting to grow in his group ahead of the Essendon District Football League premier division.
The Jets were the big improver last season, finishing in fifth spot and a game outside the top four.
Now with another pre-season under their belt, Bewick said the group is keen to take that next step.
“There is more belief,” he said. “It was really difficult for the players to understand last season that they can do it.
“We’re turning on the right path and our pre-season has been really good with what we want to try and do.
“They’ve got another year together. We weren’t far off, what cost us was a little bit of inconsistency during the year.”
Bewick said the pre-season had been a strong one and they had tweaked a few things in their game plan,
He said there had been a few players in rehab for injuries, but they were set to be ready for round one.
The core group has returned for the Jets, but they have lost some experience in Fort and Nate Caruso, and Addam Maric all departing.
“We have lost a fair bit of experience,” Bewick said. “We’ve bought in a few guys and there will be some young blokes that might come in and get some more opportunities.
“The boys we’ve recruited are more than capable that haven’t been as experienced in senior football that we see playing a role.”
Ray Murphy, who is on Werribee’s Victorian Football League list, has joined the club and will play between those commitments.
Will Madden, who is on Essendon VFL list, is another who has joined the club.
Josh Porter, who joined the club last season, has committed full time having decided not to play VFL this season.
“He played four or five games for us last season,” Bewick said.” He is going to be a real problem for opposition offences.
“He’s taken on a leadership role and we’re excited to see what he can do full time.”
Bewick highlighted Jason Kenneth and Jett Ladewig as a couple of players that he expected to see improve again and there would be a group of under-18s that would be really pushing for spots in the back half of the season.
“There is more competition for spots than there has been,” Bewick said.
“We’re hoping to win a few more games and put ourselves amongst it.”
The Jets kick off their season at home on April 13 against Avondale Heights.
