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<\/p>\n
“We’re the hunted, we’re not doing the hunting. We’re no longer a team going into a season after losing the grand final; hat team that can go in with a little bit more hunger.<\/p>\n
“This year the tables have turned.<\/p>\n
“But I’m confident we can do it again; we just need to take each game as it comes and work on things that were a bit of a weakness for us last year.<\/p>\n
“Friday (against Gisborne) will be about us playing our game.<\/p>\n
“I feel we have gotten much better with ball in hand and making sure we are scoring off our centre passes.<\/p>\n
“Realistically, all you need to do us be up by one at the end of every quarter to win the game., so it’s important for us to have a strong start.<\/p>\n
“We know Gisborne will be tough and have recruited well, so we’ll need to step up to become even better than we were last year.”<\/p>\n
The Bulldogs will be hoping to unveil recruits Tilly Shepherd and Charlee Duff-Tytler against the Roos.<\/p>\n
Shepherd, no stranger to the BFNL having previously played at Kyneton, returns to the league following a pair of Riddell District league best and fairests in 2024-25.<\/p>\n
The defender is a VNL teammate of star Bulldogs Kirby Elliott and Charlee Kemp at Melbourne University Lightning.<\/p>\n
Young goal shooter Duff-Tytler has made the move across from Woodend-Heskett and looms as a key to the Bulldogs’ hopes alongside 2024 grand final best on court medallist Torie Skrijel, with star goal attack Claudia Mawson sidelined with a shoulder injury.<\/p>\n
Dual premiership coach Tarryn Rymer said her side welcomed the tough first-up challenge.<\/p>\n
“We’re really looking forward to having a hit-out against Kangaroo Flat; they’re obviously going to be the benchmark,” she said.<\/p>\n
“The girls have had a pretty solid pre-season.<\/p>\n
“Obviously we want to win a grand final \u2013 that’s the ultimate motivation for any team.<\/p>\n
“We finished top three last year, but we’d definitely like to finish higher up the ladder this year.<\/p>\n
“Winning a grand final is the expectation and to be successful in all grades, and to develop our youth in the process.<\/p>\n
“But there’s a lot of work to be done.”<\/p>\n
Aside from the injured Mawson, Gisborne will be without former SSN defender Zoe Davies this season.<\/p>\n
From the Bulldogs’ back-to-back 2023-24 premiership sides, Elliott, Kemp, Skrijel and midcourter Emerson Lakey remain.<\/p>\n
While their first round opponents have undergone some change, Rymer tipped the Roos to be as formidable as ever.<\/p>\n
“They didn’t lose a game last season, so they are certainly going to be the team to beat,” she said.<\/p>\n
“Everyone will be chasing them, not just us.<\/p>\n
“They have a lot of depth and can generally cover any gaps pretty quickly.”<\/p>\n
In other round one games, Sandhurst hosts Eaglehawk at the QEO; Strathfieldsaye clashes with standalone round zero winners South Bendigo; and making a return to A-grade, Castlemaine takes on Golden Square at Camp Reserve.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
STAR Kangaroo Flat midcourter Chelsea Sartori is urging her premiership teammates to embrace being the hunted during the 2026 BFNL season. The Roos, unbeaten on the way to winning their first A-grade premiership in nine years last season, will launch their flag defence on Good Friday against fellow powerhouse Gisborne at Gardiner Reserve. Always fierce […]<\/p>\n