The Lions finished the season winless and cemented to the bottom of the table and while Paasi admitted he was disapppinted his troops couldn't notch a victory, he said the young - very young - Lions definitely took steps in the right direction.

He pointed to their draw against Emus in round five as a highlight and also looked to a number of the side's close losses, they suffered defeat by two tries or less on six separate occasions and three of those came by less than seven points.

Considering they were largely beaten comprehensively in 2018, that's proof enough for Paasi in terms of on-field development.

"The positives are just as much off the field as they are on the field though," Paasi said.

"The culture's building really well off the field and, you know, I think getting some of the older guys who were in the club to come back and be a part of it again is a huge thing.

"Even though we didn't end up winning a game I think we definitely took a step forward this year, a step in the right direction. That was the goal at the start of the season and I'll admit it may not quite have looked that way [on Saturday], I think we achieved that."

Saturday's 76-21 defeat was a gutting one for the young Lions, you needed only to see the looks on the faces of stalwarts like Duncan Young and Tom Nell after full-time to see that.

But Paasi pushed that aside somewhat, that performance and result wasn't a reflection of his side as a whole and he also gave credit to the rampant greens too.

"Honestly, it sucks that we go into the off-season after that performance, it was probably our worst of the season really," Paasi lamented.

"It was a really tough way to finish and I know a lot of the guys are absolutely gutted. But you do have to give credit to Emus for that too, because they're a really good side and it seems like they're clicking at the right time of year.

"We're going somewhere as a club, I can see that, and we do need to remember how young this first grade side actually was, our average age as a group was just over 22.

"If these guys can stick together for a group for the next three, four, five years I think there's definitely a lot of success coming, but in saying that they do need to stick together for that period of time because it is a long-term thing.

"So overall I am quite happy with the season in a lot of ways, it's been a pleasure to coach them and we'll just have to see how we go come pre-season next year."

Paasi went on to say his troops will now support the club's second grade side, who take on Emus in the minor semi-final at Cowra after this weekend's general bye.

The Lions colts, the reigning champions, just missed the finals while the developing women's side produced a wealth of improved performances but finished outside the finals frame too.