New-look Demons looking forward to finally starting 2016Friday, March 25, 2016 - 4:50 PM - by Chris Pike

PERTH has made some big changes over summer to try and get back in the WAFL finals mix and now coach Earl Spalding is just hoping for an encouraging start against West Perth on Saturday following the Round 1 bye.

It hasn’t been a couple of years to remember for Perth with two straight wooden spoons and with the Demons having only won two of their last 34 matches, but there is plenty of reasons for optimism that 2016 will be a season of marked improvement at Lathlain Park.

Spalding is entering his second season as coach at Perth and is happy with the mix he now has with the playing group and that most importantly he has a group that he is confident is now fully committed to the cause.

There have been impressive signings with the likes of former AFL trio Clint Jones, Spencer White and Angus Graham along with other new arrivals Taran Etto, Kristian Cary, Laine Wilkins and Stephen Mills while the returns of Aaron Zucconi and Julian Jacobs important too.

But just as important for Spalding was to again have important players like Aidan Tropiano, Dene White, Jared Bell, Liam McKenna, Michael Sinclair, Brent Latch, Toby Gianatti, Christian Eyres and David Johnston all committing to help lead the Demons forward. 

Spalding is feeling better about the squad but his full focus is now on playing West Perth on Saturday at HBF Arena after the Demons had the Round 1 bye.

"The mix we've got at the moment is pretty good in terms of position as well as age. We are just waiting to really test ourselves in a proper game and we get that opportunity against West Perth and we'll see how we go," Spalding said.

"We're not even focusing on outcomes at all, it's about getting the processes right with our ball movement and structure. So far there's been lots of improvement but there are areas we need to work on and we'll continue to do that until we feel like we get it right."

Once again Perth has seen some important players depart over summer including Jarryd Morton, Daniel O'Sullivan, Mitch Morton, Callum Collard and Chris Billings, but Spalding believes they have come out on the positive with the arrivals as the standards on and off the field continue to improve.

"We have obviously changed a fair bit of personnel. We have had a few outs again which has been a bit of a trend but we've got some top end talent in and they have set some really good standards on the track, which had to happen," he said.

"The group's pretty buoyant and they get along with each other pretty well. We had a good win on the weekend so confidence is pretty high and we have a weekend off, which I don’t know is good or bad, and we are just looking forward to getting into Round 2."

The arrival of someone like Jones who played 149 AFL games with St Kilda after having already won two fairest and best awards and a WAFL premiership with South Fremantle is something that Spalding expects to have a significant impact with the development of his group as well.

On top of that, ruckman Graham will bring AFL experience and a big body with him to help Perth have a more physical impact throughout 2016 and former St Kilda key forward Spencer White will help to provide a genuine target in attack.

Spalding is glad with what each new arrival will bring to the Demons in 2016.

"Clint is probably the highest profile guy we've got in and he's been fantastic around the group. He has been pretty quiet and I've had a couple of chats to him, and he just wants to earn the respect of the group before he starts having an impact verbally," Spalding said.

"He is just setting some standards at training that everyone is going along for the ride with. I think in the past at the club we have tolerated guys, because they have a bit of talent, not putting in at training and not having that excellence in mind.

"But now are getting to the stage where we have a young group that have stepped into leadership roles and they aren’t tolerating that anymore. We will keep turning over a few guys if they aren’t working hard to be the best players they can be.

"Clint has certainly added to that and big Gus is off hiking with his old man in New Zealand at the moment so I just told him to make sure he doesn’t fall off a cliff. He is a really likeable bloke and has a bit of size about him, and that's something we lacked last year.

"Spencer White also comes in and he's only 21, and this is an opportunity for him after having a lot of adversity growing up. He is probably here to grow up and he is a likeable kid. He might be frustrating along the way but he has a lot of high end talent with speed and marking so hopefully a goal sense too."