LAUNCESTON will carry on with the game plan implemented by coach Sam Lonergan despite the former Bomber being sidelined for the upcoming TSL season.
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After succeeding Scott Stephens as Launceston playing coach, Lonergan led the Blues for more than two months of pre-season training before being handed a one-year ban from football by the Court of Arbitration for Sport.
With just six weeks until round one, incoming coach Chris Hills said the Blues would kick on where Lonergan left off.
"We're concentrating on a fast, hard, exciting brand of football - that is what we aim to play," he said.
"We've got a really, really good group of young men out there and I think with the game plan that we've put into place we might surprise a few this year."
Despite the possibility of Lonergan returning to the coaching role next season, Hills said he would not be approaching the job as an interim position.
"I'm certainly not looking at it as a caretaker's role; we're here to take this club forward," he said.
"If it ends up one year, it ends up one year, if it ends up three years, it ends up three years.
"Nine months is a long time to get through and who knows what happens in that time."
Hills said it was still unclear what role if any Lonergan could undertake at the club for the upcoming season.
Football operations manager Neale Atkins said the club had overcome the initial disappointment of Lonergan's suspension.
"They were flat early, but that's to be expected, we were all pretty flat, especially for the guy," he said.
"But they've definitely lifted in the past two weeks and now we've got an appointment, [Monday] night's training session was fantastic."
Having filled the role of senior team assistant coach for three years, Atkins said Hills had been a popular choice among the playing group.
"The guys love him. He's a good person to lean on when they need him, so it's a good choice."