Footscray Senior Coach Chris Maple has refuted claims his side’s development agenda has been thrown out the window ahead of Sunday’s VFL Grand Final at Etihad Stadium.

Even with silverware on the line, Maple is adamant there is more to take out of Sunday’s showdown than the obvious.

“I’ve seen some commentary on the weekend that development is out the window and all this type of business,” Maple said.

“We still think it’s a great development experience for our players to be playing in a finals series, under pressure with big crowds, trying to develop a will to win.”

While playing-off for a premiership wasn’t necessarily at the forefront of Maple’s mind 12 months ago, he said the benefit of a  starting from a clean slate was uncapped expectations.

“That was probably the good thing, we didn’t come in with any expectations, the purpose of our side was purely to make sure that we were getting the best development for our player and we weren’t getting that with our alignment,” said Maple.

“Obviously we’ve done well with regards to win loss, which is an added bonus.”

Maple also acknowledged the benefit of adding the experience of former AFL players Nick Lower, Jordan Russell, Brent Prismall and Lukas Markovic to the VFL playing list, and the leadership role they have provided.

“We had a bit of strategy in that…I suppose it is one of the good things starting your own team up for scratch you get a chance to really think deeply about how you want it to look.

“One of our key drivers to make sure we had a few older boys, from a VFL perspective, to actually teach the boys, the VFL listed boys and the AFL listed ones, the way we want them to play.

“I know the VFL listed young fellas are just sponges off those four at training , and on match day these guys drive the standards.”

Co-captain Nick Lower echoed his coach’s sentiments, acknowledging how he and the senior VFL listed players had accepted their responsibility to set the standard for their younger teammates.

“It’s been a fantastic year, and the team of coaches he’s put together are second to none.

“We have a great opportunities for younger boys who are on the VFL list to emerge and grow as players, and hopefully our aim as an organization is to get some of those VFL listed boys onto AFL lists ultimately.”