North Coast Bulldogs showed enough promise in both the Andrew Johns Cup (under-16) and Laurie Daley Cup (under-18) competitions last season to provide plenty of optimism ahead of their 2022 campaigns.
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The under-16s made the finals while the under-18s fell one game short which indicated to academy manager Dan Tempest that the foundations have been set for future success.
2022 will see a few new faces around the program.
"This year there's been a couple of changes in the coaching positions which has been a great freshen up for the program," he said.
This year, we couldn't have the open trials, but I feel it's been great for us as a region to invite 60-plus players into those extended training squads for eight-week periods.
- Dan Tempest
"This year, we couldn't have the open trials, but I feel it's been great for us as a region to invite 60-plus players into those extended training squads for eight-week periods.
"That's not normally a luxury we have for that long of a period."
Tempest said the under-18 division would be well equipped with a large portion of the successful under-16s set to make the transition into that age group.
The under-16s, however, were more of an unknown.
"The 16s are a bit harder to gauge because they're fresh into the program," he said.
"The under-16s going into the 18s this year are well represented and that shows the players in that squad are quality footballers. You can see the step up they've all taken and the improvements they've made from round one last year to round one this year."
You can see the step up they've all taken and the improvements they've made from round one last year to round one this year.
- Dan Tempest
Both squads have announced 25-man lists ahead of the February 5 season opener against Greater Northern Tigers at Lank Bain Sporting Complex.
The Andrew Johns Cup fixture will kick off at 10am while the Laurie Daley Cup match will follow at 11.20am.
Andrew Johns Cup squad: Jack Davey, Caleb Rhodes, Sam Watts, Harrison Nevins, Jett Gilbert, Riley Bugden, Ethan Clarke, Luke Eather, James Wright, Liam Cuffe, Tana Hona, Lleyton Moore, Seth Tolhurst, Zailen Campbell-Cook, Colbi Hunt, Jay Crismale, Brayden Laing, Cooper Holt, Will Rosenbaum, Lachlan Smith, Logan Lacey, Jack Alchin, Patrick Carey, Clay Atkin, Kaleb Jones-Moore, Peter Woods (coach).
Laurie Daley Cup squad: Bill Butlin, Blair Hamilton, Christopher Bull, Dean Jones, Finnian Walsh, Hamish Wilson, Harry Brennan, Hudson Harmer, Jack Margetts, Jedd Pratt, Joshua Power, Lachlan Mifsud, Lachlan Pensini, Lester Andrews, Luke Calthorpe, Luke Hayes, Oscar Holt, Oscar Williams, Will Batten, Xavier james Davidson-Fox, Connor Latham, Mhalikai Mercy, Josh Clark, Shane Davis-Caldwell, Tay Cochrane, Matthew Freebairn (coach), Ty-Jesse Brabant (club captain).
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