BA News – Breaking News Updates Latest News Headlines
Perth coach Garry Moss says the Demons must improve both on and off the field should they resurrect their club from the doldrums of the WAFL.
The Demons have won just six of 31 games since their 22-year drought-breaking finals appearance in 2020.
Their 11.13 (79) to 7.7 (49) loss to Peel Thunder at Mineral Resources Park on Saturday was their ninth in a row and they sit just one win above fellow battlers West Coast.
Perth lost no respect for their efforts against a Thunder side featuring 13 Fremantle-listed players considering they were without a number of their best 22.
Brayden Ainsworth, Andrew Fisher, Jacob Coniglio, Josh Smith, Michael Sinclair, Kristian Cary, Jordan Busher, Fraser McInnes, Brodie Gray and Connor Sing all missed the clash because of injury, leaving the Demons short of experience.
They suited up four debutants, three colts aged and were forced to make two changes on the morning of the game after Fisher fell ill and Busher injured his back.
Led by stalwart Haydn Busher (24 disposals and 11 marks) a number of their young stars stood tall.
Harry Quartermaine kicked two goals to make it 10 in six games, while ruckman Dakota Baldwin-Wright was good against Dockers rising star Lloyd Meek.
“This week in particular I’m happy with the players, they played with real spirit,” Moss said.
“I think you could really tell that the boys were playing for each other, particularly after we kicked goals, getting around each other.
“I would have loved to get the result, but against a pretty good side I thought we fought hard for four quarters.”
Moss said the 2020 finals appearance could have helped mask some of the challenges facing Perth.
“It was a shortened season, we won five games. It was wonderful to make the finals, but it might have given us a bit of a false positive in some ways,” he said.
“It has been a challenge for a long time. The club has struggled. There are a lot of things we’ve got to get right ourselves before we start asking for help from other people.
“We need to recruit better than we have over the past four or five years, we need to develop our colts players who come through a lot better. They’re our focuses.”
Moss’s two-year contract ends this season, but it’s understood the club and coach are in positive talks about an extension despite the string of poor results.
The former Hawthorn forward said he remained committed to continuing what he started.
“At the moment I’m really positive about what’s happening with the group,” Moss said.
“I think there’s no doubt we need to get our senior players fit and we probably need to bring in three or four quality recruits to be competitive with the best teams.
“We’ll see how the contract plays out over the next four or five weeks but I’m positive about where we’re going as a football club and I’d love to be a part of it.”
