North Canberra-Gungahlin were stuck in the Cricket ACT finals wilderness and in need of a serious culture shift.
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Matthew Wheatley is the man charged with leading the club back to the promised land, a challenge he always knew wasn't going to be accomplished overnight.
Wheatley's appointment was born out of what some described as a "crisis meeting" - performances on the field weren't up to scratch and post-match functions were attended by few.
And while Norths will miss the Douglas Cup finals and have already given up first innings points to Tuggeranong Valley after being rolled for 46 last Saturday, the tide is starting to turn.
Wheatley knows the results won't just start to go their way - Norths are facing a bumpy road - but the club's new breed has been unearthed.
Ben Taylor broke through for a maiden first grade century this season, while his younger brother Sam has claimed a few scalps with the new ball.
Nineteen-year-old Ben is one of the more experienced players in the Norths' first grade line-up, an indication of just how young this side is.
After losing a number of experienced troops, Wheatley has had to work overtime to engage the younger players with the club and implement more intense training methods.
"I don't think you can change culture in a couple of months, it's something you build over a couple of years," Wheatley said.
"The intent going forward is to try and build on what's done this year, hopefully get some experience back to the club, and really push forward for the next couple of seasons.
"We've had to blood some young players a little bit earlier than expected. Ideally you would have those experienced players combined with the young guys, showing them the ropes.
"Our most experienced player apart from our import is our captain, and he's only 22 years of age. There's a lot of room for development."
Wheatley says Tuggeranong - their opponents this weekend - are a prime example of what experience can do for a young squad.
Tuggeranong's last finals appearance came in the 2013-14 one-day competition, before they rocketed to title contention this season.
The Vikings won the one-day Gallop Cup title, made the Twenty20 grand final, and all but wrapped up the two-day minor premiership on day one against Norths.
Wheatley says every player at Norths has had a good day out at some point - it's just a matter of finding consistency.
With the performances slowly but surely improving on the field, his next test is bringing the club together off it.
"I guess gone are the days of blokes going back to the pub and having a couple of beers and having a chat," Wheatley said.
"This generation is a little bit different. They operate in a different way. [We're] just trying to get them to come along to functions and be engaged with the club a little bit more."
Having already lost their final game on first innings, Saturday looms as a chance for Norths to finish their season on a high.
AT A GLANCE
Cricket ACT Douglas Cup - WESTON CREEK MOLONGLO 225 (M Bennett 59, J Rogers 43; R van Aalst 4-65, T Engelbrecht 2-12) v WESTS-UC 2-90 (M Condon 49*, T Valeri 18; H Medhurst 2-33), TUGGERANONG VALLEY 234 and 0-25 (T Floros 15*, K Chapman 8*) bt NORTH CANBERRA-GUNGAHLIN 46 (L Rutzou 22, B Taylor 10; A Ritchard 6-7, C Morris 4-33), ANU 121 and 2-20 (R Deans 9, O Chivers 7*; N Pokana 1-2, A Meere 1-8) v EASTLAKE 5-155 (dec) (P O'Malveney 43, M Spaseski 42; M Hughes 3-62), QUEANBEYAN 168 (V Dukoski 66, L Shavakkumar 30; M Delaney 5-19, J Willcox 3-20) v GINNINDERRA 5-84 (R Healy 26*, M Delaney 18*; V Dukoski 2-35, H Starr 1-5).
