GOING on form in recent years, East Gambier probably under-performed in the 2018 Western Border Football League season, despite making the final game of September.
The Bulldogs’ form was at best up and down during the home-and-away games and again surfaced in the grand final.
After letting Millicent out to an early lead, it was always going to be a tough task to come back.
The Bulldogs nearly achieved a come-from-behind victory, but time ran out and the Saints celebrated.
Coach Matt Willson will lead East again this season, with several changes which could pose a big challenge as the Bulldogs seek redemption for last year’s result.
While Willson said the club had retained 95pc of its playing list, there is no doubt some exclusions could have an effect.
Flynn Balshaw heads up to Adelaide, while Matt McCallum has been offered another opportunity and leaves the club.
Alex Pfieffer heads off after a season with the Bulldogs, while Brad Rathjen has pursued a basketball career with the Pioneers.
Matt Ferguson still faces challenges from an off-season incident, but Willson said he holds hopes of returning at some stage.
Former Hamilton player Robbie Brewster is in, as is Shaun King, who comes to the Bulldogs from the Port Adelaide development program.
One player Willson was excited about was Matt Scanlon, who he said would be in town for the full season this year.
“It is almost like having a new recruit to have Matt Scanlon back for the full year, after having limited access to him last year,” he said.
“He has put in a power of work in the pre-season and is really fit and ready to go.
“That is exciting for us.”
Despite the outs, Willson is confident his backline can stand up to the task this year.
“You don’t want to lose any players, but I think that was an area we could afford to lose a couple,” he said.
“We have been fortunate over the last couple of years we have had some good players in our back six and they work really well together.
“We have had 10-12 players who have rotated through there.”
Willson said the pre-season had been positive for the whole roster, with good attendance and a desire to go one better in 2019.
He said while there was some suggestion of redemption, as a whole the players were simply getting on with the job.
“We have moved on from last year’s grand final result,” Willson said.
“We lost and Millicent was the better side on the day.
“To me, good teams bounce back, they don’t hold that bitterness, but it is probably something that does drive players.
“When you get that close there is always the drive to go one step further.”
Willson said with the strong competition in the league, his side simply needed to bring more consistency to the table in 2019.
“We were up and down a bit last year,” he said.
“We will have to bring that consistent effort week in, week out this year if we want to play finals football.”
