After two unsuccessful tilts at the Sheffield Shield title, coach Justin Langer is confident Western Australia will remain a powerful force in the nation’s first-class series.

The Warriors yesterday failed to secure an outright victory in Hobart, meaning Victoria walked away with the Shield at the end of a five-day decider in Hobart.

It was a repeat of the previous season for WA, who then couldn’t overcome favourites NSW.

Finishing the 2014-15 season ahead on points, Victoria needed only a draw to come out on top, leaving WA’s bowlers scrambling for wickets in the closing sessions.

Langer’s men had earlier declared with a 333-run lead.

The coach defended the teams’ decision not to send Victoria in to bat sooner for their second innings.

“We felt that if we got a few more runs then Victoria would just have to go defensive all day, and we were expecting the wicket to deteriorate a lot more and perhaps spin,” Langer said after the match.

He said WA were set an “almost impossible” task to take 20 wickets on such a flat pitch.

But regardless of the outcome, the future looked bright, Langer said.

Century-making 22-year-old opener Marcus Harris eclipsed his previous first-class top score, reaching an unbeaten 158 on Wednesday.

Along with other young players like batsman Cameron Bancroft and paceman Andrew Tye, the team is well placed for the future, Langer said.

“They’ve been lucky to have really good opportunities.

“We’ve been able to carry them, in a sense, and go through the journey … hopefully we’ll benefit from that in the future, and they will certainly benefit from that in the future.”

Despite holding up the Sheffield Shield trophy, veteran Victorian allrounder David Hussey questioned the relevance of the final fixture.

“I truly believe you have to play the game to win the game and sadly if you get a draw and you finish on top you get to hold it up,” Hussey said shortly after the winless final.

“Maybe a bit of tinkering needs to be done.”

Despite the nature of their win, Victoria achieved a marked turnaround in form, climbing up from a last-place finish in 2013-14.

“Coming from last to first is a fantastic effort, it’s … a great compliment to our captain and coaches for getting our boys’ skills up,” Hussey said.

-AAP