The inception of the Footscray Bulldogs this season has had all-round benefits, but it’s providing talented players at lower levels the opportunity to represent the team they love that satisfies VFL Coach Chris Maple most.

Maple said in addition to wearing Bulldogs colours, giving VFL players access to elite resources would help fast-track their development, alongside their AFL counterparts. 

“We’ve had young players who have walked in the door here who have never played in the Bulldogs jumper,” Maple said.

“For our young guys to have the opportunity to pull on the Bulldogs jumper when they are not playing AFL footy, get coached by our staff, how we want them to play – it’s just benefits all round.

“It’s been big for Footscray to get back here and [it has] been great for our community.”

The significance of representing Footscray is not lost on co-captain Lukas Markovic who has dreamed of such an honour since watching games at Victoria University Whitten Oval as a child. 

“I remember coming down to Whitten Oval as a youngster and watch a few games,” Markovic said.

“It was always a dream to run out onto Whitten Oval and to particularly be captain of the side along with Nick Lower, was a huge priviledge for me.”

Fostering local talent was also a priority when forming the VFL list, Maple said, with a number of recruits hailing from the West of Melbourne. 

“We went out into the western region and we have just pretty much picked up some club footballers out of the WRFL and the amateurs, one or two from different country leagues [and] some straight out of the TAC Cup,” he said.

That local community feel has extended to the supporter base who have embraced the side returning to Footscray to play games for the first time since 1997.

Markovic said the support and show of faith from people in the Bulldogs’ heartland has been remarkable and he hopes to see that continue in the coming years.

“To build a Bulldogs brand of footy that incorporates the west was really important for us,” he said.

“We just want to see development and the guys are going about it the right way, the Bulldogs way – I think we will see success off the back of that.

“It’s definitely been a great reception that we’ve got and we’ve been really proud to have that sort of support - it shows how much it means to a lot of people in the area.”