Bulldogs lure former SA state league ruckman

GOLDEN Square has boosted its ruck stocks with the signing of former SANFL big man Liam Hoy for the 2026 BFNL season.

Hoy, who played six senior games for North Adelaide in 2024 and was among the Roosters’ best players in the previous year’s reserves grand final, joins the Bulldogs following a superb season with South Australian country club Kybybolite.

Standing a whopping 205-centimetre, Hoy averaged 22 hit-outs across his six senior SANFL games and will give a Bulldogs team lacking in height genuine size and presence in the air and around the ground.

“We’re really pleased to have signed Liam for 2026,” Bulldogs co-coach Brad Eaton said.

“We’ve been talking to him for a while now.

“His girlfriend’s living in Melbourne, so he was doing the long distance thing from Adelaide this year but said he was moving across.

“We asked whether he would like to travel up to Bendigo; he was travelling three-and-a-half fours from Adelaide (to Kybobylite) this year to play footy, so travel is not a problem.

“There’s a bit of a connection to Bendigo through his girlfriend.”

Eaton said Hoy filled a definite need for the Bulldogs in terms of height and around the ground presence.

“I think his inclusion will put a bit of a sting in the tail of the mids – a really big, mobile guy working it to them,” he said.

“Hopefully that helps us around the footy a bit and gives us good use.”

In a further boost to the on-ball ranks, inside midfielder Macey Eaton has returned to Wade Street following a brilliant season with Sunraysia league club Irymple, coached by former Golden Square star Jake Thrum.

Despite coming up two goals short of a premiership victory, Eaton was best on ground for the Swallows in their grand final loss to Mildura.

He featured in the club’s best players 12 times across 19 games.

Eaton previously played 26 senior games for Golden Square in 2023-24.

Brad Eaton said son Macey had elevated his game while up north.

“Especially in the back end of the year, he got his fitness up and played really well in the finals series,” he said.

“He’s a different player to the one he was to the one that left.

“It will be nice to have him and (brother) Ollie playing together at some point.

“He’s over in the US at the moment, but will be back at Christmas time.”

Eaton said the Bulldogs were still talking to up to 10 potential recruits, with a focus on adding to their key position stocks.

 

The signings of Hoy and Eaton will help offset some significant losses for Golden Square.

The Bulldogs will be without gun on-baller Tom Strauch and defender Zack Shelton next year, with both heading north to play in Queensland.

Other departures include experienced defender John Coe, who has departed for Loddon Valley league club Newbridge, Harrison Kelly (studying in Melbourne) and key tall Hugh Freckleton, who has signed at Heathcote.

A key addition is undoubtedly new co-coach Liam Barrett, who will take the reins alongside Eaton in a playing capacity.

The 2023 premiership star and former Bendigo Pioneers captain is back at the Bulldogs following successive finals campaigns and assistant and co-coaching roles with Moama in 2024-25.

He will inject valuable experience, having also won a pair of Goulburn Valley league premierships with Kyabram in 2016-17.

Eaton said the formative weeks of their partnership had

“It’s great having him on board. We’re just doing a bit of planning around what things will look like and who our support staff will be on game day and setting up training and planning the season,” he said.

“We have a whole group meeting on Thursday this week (yesterday), so we’ll outline our strategy and key dates and introduce him to everyone.

“He’s obviously got a few good contacts from where he has played to try and get across.

“It will be a great push for the playing group to have someone, who is actually playing and training on-board, and be able to improve the standards.”

Golden Square finished the 2025 season in sixth place with a 5-11 win-loss record, missing a spot in the top five by two games.

The Bulldogs claimed the reserves premiership with a toughly fought win over Sandhurst and were beaten grand finalists in the under-18s.

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