Bulldogs kick season off in style with a return to triple figures
ONE game does not make a season but there were 21 reasons for Centrals Trinity Beach Bulldogs fans to believe this could be the turning point for the AFL Cairns club.
A dominant 21.13-139 9.6-60 win against Manunda Hawks at the home of AFL Cairns, Cazalys Stadium, handed new coach Luke Morgan a win in his first game at the club since joining the club in late November.
The 79-point victory featured 11 goals between Morgan and Luke James, while seven other Bulldogs got their name on the scoresheets.
The last time Centrals Trinity Beach kicked triple figures against a team not named North Cairns was in Round 10, 2019, when they squeezed 17 goals past the Hawks in an incredibly accurate day out when they scored just two behinds.
It’s the type of performance which can give even the most jaded Bulldogs fan hope. The club has promised much over the past few seasons, but have fallen short of the top four in the past three years, last making the finals in 2018.
But despite the club’s most productive game in several years, Morgan isn’t getting carried away - it’s one game, after all - but there was a lot to like.
“It was very good for our first hitout for competition points,” Morgan said before training last night.
“We’ll work on what we’ve been working on. Our disposals weren’t good but that’s something we can always work on, and Manunda challenged us in contests which is another area to improve.
“It was a good team effort.” Football manager Sam Blease has put plenty of work into returning the club to the top of the league and positioning themselves as a genuine title contender, and that’s the status several rival club representatives handed the Doggies after strong off-season recruitment.
The signs were there in the off-season last year before COVID wreaked havoc with community sport, but the first round win shows the work has yielded results.
The club has put that result behind them as they prepare for their first game at Crathern Park, with the Bulldogs chasing the scalp of five-time defending premier Port Douglas Crocs.
The Crocs suffered a 49point loss to South Cairns Cutters in the first round, and coach Brad Cooper will undoubtedly want to see his side improve as they pursue a sixth straight premiership flag.