It may only be February, but according to assistant coach Rohan Smith there is plenty to like at Whitten Oval.
The Bulldogs put in a strong performance in their first competitive hit-out against opposition, falling by six-points against Essendon at the NEC Hangar.
“There was some really good patches of play we were really pleased with,” Smith said after the practice match.
“It’s the 23rd of February, we will take that. It was a really good hit out against a very strong opposition.”
“It was a bit of blowing out the cobwebs today.”
Many impressed on Wednesday afternoon for the Bulldogs, none more than youngster Ed Richards.
“I thought Ed Richards was fantastic down back,” he said.
“Ed’s had his fair share of injuries but we’ve really settled him this pre-season as a half back flanker.”
“The thing with Ed is he has brilliant speed and also has great endurance. When he gets the footy he uses it really well, those kicks back inside were outstanding today.
After making a Grand Final last season, the Bulldogs have spent the summer tinkering slightly with positions and have found some more speed inside the forward line.
“We’ve shown we have a little bit more speed in there,” he said.
“Having Vandermeer, Hannan and JJ – that look really good for us too. We were able to put some forward pressure on and show some real speed in the forward line.
Bailey Smith and Alex Keath missed through injury but the Club expects both to be available for selection during next week’s AAMI Community Series.
“I am pretty sure they’ll be back next Friday, we take a conservative approach,” he said.
“We don’t want to rush players, they just had little niggles and will be fine.”
