BFNL 2023 season preview: Golden Square

Two points short of a grand final berth in 2022, Golden Square is hungry to take the next step in 2023. In the words of coach Christian Carter, the Bulldogs have "no excuses". They've kept pretty much the same list as last year, with Liam Jacques and Jarrod Fitzpatrick the only two players out of the senior mix. Importantly, they've regained goalkicking midfielder Tom Toma from the Cohuna Kangas, while Mitch Treacy also returns for a second stint at Wade Street and former Mitiamo player Jack Vinnicombe adds some depth to the Dogs' back six. "We were close last year, but I feel like we've had a better pre-season this year,'' Carter said. "The boys are a lot fitter compared to last year and the development of the young guys is going to be really important this year. "We're still a relatively young list and the young guys have another year of senior footy under their belt. "We'll have a little bit of a different game plan which has worked well for us in the practice games. "The addition of (Tom) Toma will be good for us. He gives us another quality midfielder, so we're going to bat pretty deep in there. "There's no excuses for us, in our book we're shaping up pretty well." Toma, who won the Square best and fairest twice in his first stint with the Bulldogs, returns to the club an even better player, according to Carter. "He's not the skinny kid that arrived at the club eight years ago,'' Carter said of Toma. "He's a bit of a bull now. He's put on some weight and his contested ball work is unbelievable. "He's clean in the contest and he's pretty quick as well. The last couple of years we haven't had a midfielder like him that can rest forward and be really hard to stop one-on-one. "We identified we had one position that we needed to find someone and he fits the bill perfectly." The Bulldogs have strengthened their big man department. Matt Compston has been one of the premier ruckmen of the competition for a decade and he'll remain the Dogs' number one big man. Now they have a young up-and-comer ready to support Compston in the form of Hugh Freckleton, who is straight out of the under-18s. "He's as big as Compo and he's a pretty aggressive young kid,'' Carter said of Freckleton. "He's done the majority of the ruck work in our practice matches and he showed some great signs. He's pretty skillful for a big fella. "Compo is not getting any younger, so it's good to have a young kid come through the ranks at the club." The Dogs spent a fair portion of the summer working on their play forward of centre. Golden Square had two of the most dynamic forwards in the competition - Joel Brett and Jayden Burke - but at the business end of the season the Dogs struggled to kick goals. One of the key reasons behind Square missing out on last year's grand final was not making the most of their forward entries. Across three finals matches last year the Dogs kicked a combined score of 24.53, including 7.13 in the preliminary final loss to eventual premier Gisborne. "I was happy with where we were defensively last year, I think we were just below Gisborne in overall stats,'' Carter said. "We've done some work on our efficiency going forward and we've worked pretty hard on our accuracy as well. "It's something we'll continue to work on." Golden Square opens its 2023 campaign with a home game against Kyneton on Saturday. It will be captain Jack Geary's 200th senior game for the Bulldogs. DISPOSALS Jack Geary 630 Jake Thrum 559 Liam Barrett 479 Ryan Hartley 469 Terry Reeves 443 Jarrod Fitzpatrick 412 Liam Jacques 351 Joel Brett 325 Ricky Monti 319 Hamish Morcom 315 MARKS Jayden Burke 160 Jack Geary 142 Jake Thrum 132 Liam Barrett 129 Joel Brett 127 Jon Coe 113 Braydon Vaz 105 Hamish Morcom 98 Tom Strauch 95 Ryan Hartley 94 CLEARANCES Ryan Hartley 111 Terry Reeves 103 Jarrod Fitzpatrick 84 Ricky Monti 72 Jack Geary 67 Matt Compston 57 Jack Hickman 49 Liam Barrett 45 Zavier Murley 36 Jake Thrum 33 TACKLES Ricky Monti 104 Jack Geary 99 Jarrod Fitzpatrick 92 Jack Hickman 86 Terry Reeves 84 Liam Barrett 81 Ryan Hartley 78 Tom Strauch 72 Hamish Morcom 69 Joel Brett 58 GOALS Joel Brett 98 Jayden Burke 55 Braydon Vaz 31 Hamish Morcom 24 Jarrod Fitzpatrick 18 Jake Thrum 16 Tom Strauch 16 Ryan Hartley 15 Jack Stewart 12 Jack Hickman 11 Last year: 10th (0-18). Coach: Benita Swatton. 2022 best and fairest: Cass Humphrey. Player gains: Lucy Morcom, Taylor Stibbe, Hannah Tyndall, Mikeely Hufer. Promoted: Paynton Jolliffe, Rachel Pettifer, Maddy Gerdes. Player losses: Maddy Keighran, Lucy Palmer, Lana Marsh, Jayne Norton. Last A-grade premiership: 2015. Golden Square coach Benita Swatton has identified the development of promising young talent as her highest priority heading into the 2023 BFNL season. The only way is up for the Bulldogs, who finished at the bottom of the league ladder, without a win. Disappointingly, they will in some respects almost be starting from scratch, with last year's best and fairest winner Cass Humphrey the only regular A-grader returning from last season. Some of the breach will be filled by players from last year's A-reserve team, including midcourter Rachel Pettifer, who made a few appearances in the top-grade in 2023, and Paynton Jolliffe, who finished runner-up in the club's best and fairest award. Another 2022 best and fairest winner, Maddy Gerdes will make the step up from B-grade following a standout season. In a major boost to an expected young line-up, Golden Square has welcomed back goal shooter Lucy Morcom after a long stint away. A member of the Bulldogs' last grand final team in 2016, Morcom was a member of Mitiamo's 2019 premiership team and the Superoos' 2021 line-up, which was awarded the LVFNL minor premiership, when the season was cancelled before finals due to COVID. Morcom, runner-up in the LVFNL's league best and fairest award in 2019, is capable of playing key positions at both ends of the court and will lend valuable experience to her teammates. The Bulldogs have also signed dual-code athlete Taylor Stibbe, who will play when her Bendigo Braves commitments allow, and enticed youngsters Hannah Tyndall (South Bendigo) and Mikeely Hufer (Newbridge) to Wade Street. Swatton, who was first appointed ahead of the cancelled 2020 season, was delighted to have Morcom back on board as she looks to nurture the next generation of Bulldogs netballers. "She is a great player to get back, especially with her leadership and playing experience," she said. "Again this year, we are going to be pretty young. "There will be a few more years of development ahead before we get settled. "We have lost a few players to other clubs, which does make things tough getting some consistency from year-to-year." The Bulldogs, who host Kyneton in round one before a round two encounter at Strathfieldsaye, have warmed up for the season with practice matches against HDFNL clubs North Bendigo and Mount Pleasant. While wins would undoubtedly be welcomed, Swatton's primary focus is on development. "We'll have set goals each week that we'd like to reach," she said. "We are looking at the overall picture - development and bringing the young ones through and providing a pathway. "It will be interesting to see where we are at when we come up against Kyneton." SEASON FIXTURE GOLDEN SQUARE ROUND 1 - April 15 Kyneton (h) ROUND 2 - April 22 Strathfieldsaye (a) ROUND 3 - April 29 Sandhurst (a) ROUND 4 - May 6 South Bendigo (h) ROUND 5 - May 13 Maryborough (a) ROUND 6 - May 27 Gisborne (h) ROUND 7 - June 3 Castlemaine (a) ROUND 8 - June 10 Eaglehawk (h) ROUND 9 - June 17 Kangaroo Flat (a) ROUND 10 - June 24 Kyneton (a) ROUND 11 - July 8 Strathfieldsaye (h) ROUND 12 - July 15 Sandhurst (h) ROUND 13 - July 22 South Bendigo (a) ROUND 14 - July 29 Maryborough (h) ROUND 15 - August 5 Gisborne (a) ROUND 16 - August 12 Castlemaine (h) ROUND 17 - August 19 Eaglehawk (a) ROUND 18 - August 26 Kangaroo Flat (h) South Bendigo Eaglehawk Elmore Colbinabbin Heathcote Huntly Leitchville-Gunbower Lockington-Bamawm United Mount Pleasant North Bendigo White Hills Bears Lagoon-Serpentine Bridgewater Calivil United Inglewood Maiden Gully YCW Marong Mitiamo Newbridge Pyramid Hill Our journalists work hard to provide local, up-to-date news to the community. 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