Wayne Mitrovic has been reappointed coach of LVFNL club Maiden Gully YCW.
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After two painful finals losses and the disappointment of this year's cancelled season, Mitrovic said he had unfinished business with the Eagles.
"If this year had gone ahead it would have been my third year and you probably start to think about the time and effort that you need to put in,'' Mitrovic said.
"My daughter plays netball in the juniors and my young bloke is Auskick age, so I was going to be at the footy every week anyway and I didn't want to finish like this.
"I was a bit down in the dumps that this year was taken away from us. We'd put in a lot of hard work leading into the season and we thought we were in for a good year.
"I had a chat with the club and they wanted to be proactive and get on the front foot, so we locked it in straight away.
"We've sent a clear message to the playing group that we're committed. Hopefully, it helps us get a commitment from the players."
Senior assistant coach Chris Howgate, reserves coach Hamish McCartney and his assistant David Horan and under-18 coach Ben Dyett have all been reappointed for 2021.
Mitrovic was elated Howgate re-signed with the club.
"This year was his first year with the club, so he hasn't played a game with us yet,'' Mitrovic said.
"Assistant coaching was a new challenge for him and he was really impressive in the way he spoke to the players at training and took drills.
"It's great to have him back and he's a quality ruckman as well, so to have that role filled is great for the club."
The Eagles made the finals in Mitrovic's first two seasons in charge, but fell short of qualifying for the grand final.
In 2018 they lost the preliminary final to Mitiamo, while last year they were knocked out by Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in the first semi-final.
"In the preliminary final in my first year we were a draw at three quarter-time and then got blown away by Miti in the final quarter,'' he said.
"This year in the first semi-final we were in front by a couple of goals at three quarter-time, but couldn't go on with it and got beaten.
"Being in a position to win two big finals and not getting the job done...hopefully, the boys learn from that experience and they use that going forward."
Read more: No regets for LVFNL
Mitrovic said the Eagles weren't far away from challenging for a premiership.
"We've got to be smarter with the footy and our making has to be better,'' he said.
"There's certain times in games of footy where you need to take risks with your ball movement and other times where you need to keep possession.
"At times we seem to get that mixed up a little bit. It's a learning curve and we'll keep working on those things."
While clubs are still waiting on salary cap and player points rules for 2021, Mitrovic said the Eagles would focus on two key position players for next season.
"I'd love to sign a key forward and a key back,'' he said.
"I'd love to get a key forward that could play full-forward and kick 80 goals a season.
"Our small brigade in the forward line is pretty dangerous, I reckon. We just need a focal point deep in the forward line.
"Losing Alex Pearson in defence has hurt us, so it would be nice to get someone in to replace him.
"We'll have Howgate in the ruck and Darby Graham as a back-up ruckman or he could play centre half-back or centre half-forward.
"One extra tall in defence would be nice."
Read more: Catch up on all the latest local footy news
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