Fisher remains at Saints helm

Luke Fisher will continue to lead Horsham Saints as senior coach in Wimmera Football League next year.

Fisher, 27, confirmed this week he would take the reins for a third year based on a concept of ‘unfinished business’.

“When you look at this year’s season we beat everyone except Ararat, which we simply couldn’t get over,” he said.

“But we beat Horsham and we beat Southern Mallee Giants and we became more consistent than last year.

“The feeling is we can do anything with the group we have and yes, for me it’s a case of unfinished business.”

Horsham Saints ended the home-andaway season strongly and made the finals, only to bow out of the premiership race against Ararat.

Fisher said he was confident the club would retain the majority of this year’s players, with Fergus O’connor the only confirmed departure.

“The feeling is we have most positions covered across the ground but we need a couple of key forwards. We have plenty of mids and backs and we probably need to be more threatening going forward,” he said. “But it’s not just about getting a key forward.

“We want to find guys who fit the mould and the great culture at the club where there are no cliques or egos.

“Our off-field goals are just as important as on-field goals. At the end of the day we want to play for enjoyment and play with good blokes.”

Fisher said the Saints had yet to decide on a leadership structure to support him.

Last season, Xander Mcrae was his playing assistant and Shayne Breuer and Trevor O’brien provided critical help from the bench.

Fisher was a key player as well as coach during the season, working through an extensive recovery program after a debilitating knee injury.

“The body got better as the year went on. I reckon in the last 10 games I got up and got going and the body started to do what I wanted,” he said.

Horsham Saints have traditionally kicked off their pre-season training in the last week of November, but Fisher plans to first have a season review with the players.