Calivil United coach Anthony Dennis is excited by the young prospects the Demons have brought in for the 2024 campaign. Picture by Luke West

Calivil United has turned to youth on its recruiting journey across the off-season, bringing in a host of rival youngsters to help bolster midfield stocks.

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Demons coach Anthony Dennis believes his side is well placed to climb the ladder this season after a disappointing 2023 in which they only mustered a trio of wins.

Rhys Lourie. Picture by Luke West

Q&A WITH CALIVIL UNITED COACH ANTHONY DENNIS:

WHO HAVE YOU BROUGHT IN FOR 2024?

"We've gone young to try and continue building our youth-based process.

"Sam Maher from South Bendigo and Kane Shelton and Lewis Fisher from Golden Square have signed on.

"Also got a trio from Boort in Jacob Mulquiny, Sam Green and Brodie Wagner plus Mitch Stevens."

WHICH OF THOSE RECRUITS ARE YOU MOST EXCITED FOR?

"I'm keen to see how Lewis Fisher goes after a year off last season due to work, but he's only 19, and his intensity the whole pre-season has been top-notch.

"Sam Maher played all his juniors at Calivil, so it's great for him to come back after running around in South Bendigo colours for five years and he'll slot into our starting on-ball lineup.

"But all our recruits have had big pre-seasons, and you can feel a different vibe around the club, which has made everyone else train harder, so the standards are much better.

"A couple of our kids from last season are leading that and have vastly improved, so you can almost classify a few of them as new recruits also."

SAID YOUR RECRUITING FOCUS HAS BEEN TO BRING IN YOUNG BLOOD, CAN YOU ELABORATE ON THAT?

"For the last four or five years, our turnover of blokes each season has been ten to 15 players, so we're looking to get that next generation through that we can hopefully hold onto for an extended period of time.

"Instead of bringing some older guys in from the reserves, we want to build a base going forward."

HAVE YOU LOST ANYONE?

"Henry Miller retired, and Lachlan Brook and Mitch Avard departed for Huntly, so we've retained nearly everyone we wanted to.

"And I think that shows what we're putting in is starting to come to the fore."

Lachlan Brook has departed for HDFNL club Huntly in 2024. Picture by Luke West

WHERE WILL YOUR ON-FIELD IMPROVEMENT COME FROM?

"I think we're going to have a lot more depth and a brand new starting on-ball lineup that will allow a few other blokes to cover spots while staying in the rotations."

WHO IS THE NEW STARTING MIDFIELD?

"Starting rotation will be Sam Maher, Kane Shelton and another recruit Darcy Thompson from Lake Wendouree."

WITH THESE POSITIVE SIGNS, DO YOU HAVE A HOPEFUL EXPECTATION TO RISE UP THE LADDER?

"Obviously, we want to try and make the finals, which, realistically, we could be pushing for that final spot in the top five.

"As I keep saying to the boys, we're probably at least ten goals ahead of where we were at this stage in 2023.

"So, if we can put the on-field performances in place, it's going to go a long way, and there were half a dozen games we lost by three goals or less last season.

"If we can change those around, it makes the season look a hell of a lot better than what it was."

WHAT BRAND OF FOOTY WILL YOU PLAY?

"We're going to play an attacking style.

"We want to kick winning scores and not clog up the game."

HOW HAVE NUMBERS BEEN ON THE TRACK?

"Numbers have been pretty good for what we usually get.

"We'd be averaging mid-20s the whole pre-season, which is fantastic, as even when we won the flags, we were only getting 15 to 20 before Christmas."

ANY STANDOUTS?

"I could name eight who have dropped two to three minutes off their running.

"We've been doing big running blocks, and a lot of the kids are smashing out ten-kilometre runs three times a week."