By Marcus Uhe
Coach Nick Adam has got his Wandin Bulldogs chomping the bit for season 2023, pulling no punches about their aspirations in the Outer East Football Netball League this season; they’re in it to win it.
Finishing third in 2022, they, along with the grand finalists in Narre Warren and Woori Yallock, forced a three-win gap between themselves and Ferny Creek in fourth, come the end of the year, to put themselves in a tier above the field.
But their 12-win home-and-away season came with four significant blemishes, in losses to those sides that finished above them on the table.
A turbulent finals series saw them knock-off Woori Yallock in week one before succumbing to the Magpies and the Tigers in consecutive weeks to put a bow on the campaign.
“We’re young and I think that probably got exposed in September against Narre Warren and Woori Yallock,” Adam said.
“We feel like there’s a lot of natural development in the 19-24/25-year-old block of guys in just putting in those experiences against quality sides, and we’ve been able to keep them all, which is really important.
“We feel like there’s natural progression in us, the reality is that we lost a preliminary final last year and we’re hungry to move forward from there and be playing in a grand final this year.
“Time will tell whether we are or we aren’t, but we definitely feel that, by being able to keep the quality of our core together, it puts us in a really strong position to see organic improvement on top of development that we see out of our program.”
As they seek to close the margin between themselves and the standard setters, the club have invested in the growth of their established young talent, while addressing some deficiencies via recruitment.
In Drew Benson, the midfield brigade led by Patrick Bruzzese and Cody Hirst can expect better service from an experienced tap ruckman that was identified as a need in the off-season, to provide the dynamic forward line led by Clint Johnson and former North Melbourne and Carlton defender, Aaron Mullett, with a higher frequency and standard of delivery.
Mullett, who played a total of 98 games across his AFL career with the ‘Roos and Blues, went goalless in just three outings last year for Eastern Football League Division two side Mooroolbark to finish with 58 majors for the campaign, and has Adam excited about both the on-field and off-field potential of his prized recruit.
“He’s going to be one of the best handful of players in the competition,” Adam said.
“Some of the stuff that he’s done in match sim has been outstanding, so we look forward to having him in the jumper.
“To have guys that have been on AFL lists and AFL programs, I’m consistently at them to try and pick their brains, help me be better and help us be better.
“I think those guys are better at being able to look outside their own little square and they’re more conscious of what’s going on around them and what’s going to help others within the team.
“I talk to them about, if you see it, have that conversation with the player.
“With the young group, they’re hungry to hear it.”
A longer wait than usual for round one means they won’t play for points until 23 April when they head to Mt Evelyn, before a brutal stretch of fixtures sees them tackle Narre Warren at home, Olinda and Monbulk away, and Woori Yallock back at the kennel in round five.
For Adam, this will present a perfect opportunity to assess where his side sits in relation to the benchmarks of the competition.
Despite the 1-6 record against last year’s grand finalists, a slender loss in the preliminary final in a valiant comeback has Adam feeling that his side are on the brink, and are embracing the challenge.
“We’re a football club that’s aspirational, and we’re in it to win it,” he said.
“I think it would be easy for the traditional Valley teams to say, this is too hard, Narre are too good, but we don’t want to have that mindset.
“Whether or not we’re able to bridge that gap and hold a cup up this year will be decided over the next six months, but we have got a hunger to do it, and a belief to do it and we can do it.
“We’re in it to win it and we’re going to be turning over every stone to try and bridge that gap and create one of our own.”
