Younger Bulldogs aim for greater consistency, more wins in 2016

TODD Curley’s first season in charge of South Fremantle was a rollercoaster ride that didn’t end how he hoped but the Bulldogs coach is looking forward to a 2016 campaign that leads to more consistency and more wins.

Curley’s time at the helm of South Fremantle got off to a tremendous start in 2015 with wins over West Perth, Perth and Claremont. But that was followed by losses to Swan Districts, Subiaco and East Fremantle.

Three wins in the next four games had the Bulldogs right in the mix for a return to finals action for the first time since 2011, but they only won two of their last 10 matches and lost the last five to end up with eight wins, 12 losses and in seventh position.

South Fremantle remained a chance of playing finals right up until the last couple of losses, though, and only finished two games out of fifth position so the Bulldogs weren’t too far off the pace despite it being a year of development under the new coach.

Curley felt where South Fremantle ended up finishing was probably a fair reflection of where they sat last year but with a greater focus on the talented group of youngsters who have come through the successful colts program, he is confident the Bulldogs can be right in the finals mix in 2016.

“We started last season really well, then had a lull in the middle of the year and even though we finished poorly losing our last five, it was probably an accurate reflection of where we were at given we played the top four teams in the last five rounds and couldn’t get it done,” Curley said on Channel 7’s South Fremantle season preview.

“It was probably an accurate reflection of where we were at then but even in the last five or six weeks we were able to blood some more kids and give them some exposure at senior level. We certainly think that’s helped them with the way they have come back over the summer. We are all excited and looking forward to this year.”

South Fremantle’s recruiting push over the summer was highlighted by the addition of Frankston VFL captain Shane Hockey who arrives as an experienced, prolific ball winning and hard-nosed midfielder.

But what best highlighted that the Bulldogs’ development and colts programs have been such a success is that Dylan Main, Blaine Johnson, Tom Vandeleur and Mason Shaw all returned to South Fremantle after finding themselves off AFL lists at the end of 2015.

Curley is delighted to have all four of them at his disposal for 2016 but he would be just as happy if they ended up back in the AFL in 2017 on the back of performing strongly this season for the Bulldogs in the WAFL.

“In terms of guys coming back, we’ve got the four boys returning from AFL lists and that’s fantastic. They are South Fremantle boys, they’ve come up through our system before they went away,” he said.

“For one reason or another it didn’t work the first time, but the way they have come back and embraced the playing group who they have played with a lot of before has been great. They are really driven to play well and we want to help them get better and hopefully get another chance at the next level.”