The transition from Tassie Mariners to Tasmania Devils inside just one year has been branded "successful".
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State manager Craig Notman lavished praise on their first tilt in the NAB League under-18s in spite of just four wins ahead of the side's farewell home-and-away fixture.
That supposed end to the season is a talking point itself.
The Devils will enter the clash with certain wooden spooners Geelong Falcons - the only side that sits below them - incredulously still a chance to play finals.
A second-last finish beckons, win or lose on Saturday at North Hobart Oval, before the bottom 10 of the competition's 13 sides play out an historic-first wildcard round.
The five winners of the knockout wildcard will three weeks later - after the players have a study break and the Devils have a last-round bye - join the top three sides in a traditional final eight.
Notman said playing finals is irrelevant compared to how far the squad has come.
"To go from four or five games a year to 18 is a big step-up," he said.
"We knew the boys were going to be a little tired come towards the end of the year.
"So rather than win-loss stuff, we look individually with the players and see the improvement that we made."
The Devils had an excess of 17-year-old players that will be better for the run.
The biggest challenge was almost certainly travel.
"I think there is a lot to take away, both from the playing point of the view that there is a lot of learning but also from the coaching and managerial point of view," he said.
"We've learned a lot and there's a lot of things that we'll put into place for 2020."
Coach Adrian Fletcher has rung out two changes, bringing in exciting 16-year-old pair Baynen Lowe and Sam Banks for Lachlan Borsboom and Harry Ireland.
Lowe debuted for Devonport NWFL seniors earlier this year and was named Tassie's MVP at the Rising Stars under-16 championships.
Banks, who won the Alan McLean Medal as the best performer across strangely the same championships, returns after sitting out last weekend's 65-point loss - the Devils' biggest all campaign - to Sandringham Dragons with a bout of concussion.
"As we know with this competition, you got to be on your game," Notman said.
"We had a really poor showing last week, but I think the two weeks before that we were up against pretty good, quality opposition and played well for three quarters and fell away.
"I think we need a full four-quarter performance to get the job done."