But he’s also adamant it hasn’t been a wasted season for the Blues, who despite the calendar yet to tick into August, finish for the year on Saturday.

The Blues head into their final game of the season against Mitiamo with just one win on the board and with four losses by more than 100 points among their past six matches, with turnovers having been one of the side’s biggest downfalls.

“It has been a tough year, but with negatives comes positives and we’ve been able to blood a lot of young guys,” McNish said on Friday.

“We think that should hold us good in stead in future years because as every club knows, youth is the key.”

Among the players who have taken to the field this season have been a host of players who are either under-18 players this year or were part of the runner-up under-18s last season.

Nick Leech, Tyler Kennedy, Dylan Hawken, Lochlan Ciantar, Kyle Hawken and Jayden Beqir are among those players, while one of their standout players in the second half has been another youngster in mid-season signing Bailey Evans.

“As much as the year hasn’t been what I would have liked, the players have brought into the way we want to play, we just need to get some more experienced players around our younger ones,” McNish said.

• Saturday’s games – Marong v Newbridge, Pyramid Hill v BL-Serpentine, Mitiamo v Inglewood, BL-Serpentine v Calivil United.