Dell'Olio, Carter return to Bulldogs from the AFL

THE South Fremantle Football Club will welcome back small forward Cory Dell'Olio and defender Adam Carter for the 2015 WAFL season with new coach Todd Curley keen to use both in the midfield at times in his first season in charge.

Curley is now at the helm of the Bulldogs for his first pre-season leading into the 2015 WAFL season and is delighted to welcome back two players with AFL experience to the club.

Dell'Olio kicked 55 goals in 2011 with South Fremantle after being a premiership player in 2009 and following 109 goals in 58 games with the Bulldogs, Essendon picked him up to give him a chance in the AFL ahead of the 2012 season.

In the three years since, Dell'Olio managed to play 16 AFL games with the Bombers kicking 16 goals and showed encouraging signs at the top level, but found himself delisted at the end of 2014.

The 24-year-old was always coming back to the Bulldogs, though, and will do that in 2015 with Curley not only excited to add his quality as a small forward to his key targets Ben Saunders, Josh Pullman, Alistair Gillespie and Paul Mugambwa, but to run him through the midfield as well.

"He is a premiership player with AFL experience now and with a number of AFL pre-seasons behind him so with that we think he can certainly play midfield at times for us back at WAFL level to add some experience in there," Curley said.

"We know that he's a proven goalkicker but that doesn’t mean he can't play midfield for us as well."

Meanwhile, 20-year-old Carter is also back at South Fremantle for the 2015 season after being delisted by the West Coast Eagles following seven games in the AFL the last two years.

Carter played in South Fremantle's colts premierships of 2011 and 2012 before making his league debut late in 2012 and then being picked up by the Eagles.

Despite looking good as a small defender in his seven AFL games, he found himself off West Coast's list and now returns to South Fremantle with the majority of group still there that he played league football with in 2013 while on the Eagles list.

Curley is looking forward to using him in the midfield as well as in the back-line.

"We think with Adam Carter coming back to us that he could be able to spend some time in the midfield for us as well," he said.

"Again he's got a couple of AFL pre-seasons under his belt and he's started training already, and looks super fit and he's very keen and eager to get back and play with this group. The boys are really rapt to have him back at the club."

While many considered Carter unlucky to be delisted after just two years and after playing some good AFL football, Curley is looking to help him have an outstanding season in 2015 to try and get back to the top level.

"That's AFL footy and it's pretty brutal these days, and often it can come down to opportunity," he said.

"For whatever reason, unfortunately for Adam, at AFL level at this stage he is going to come back at WAFL level but we are pretty confident that he's a fantastic young guy and hopefully he has an outstanding season back here with us, and gets an opportunity at the next level again."

Meanwhile, dual premiership defender Kyle Hams is also back training with South Fremantle with an eye to play in 2015 if he decides the commute from Busselton to Fremantle at least a couple of times a week is something he can contend with.

Hams played 106 games with the Bulldogs between 2005 and 2010, including being a key contributor to the premierships of 2005 and 2009, before playing 60 games in three years at Swan Districts ahead of returning to Busselton in 2014.

The 28-year-old could return to again play with twin brother Ashton in 2015 and Curley is excited that a player of that calibre was keen to come back and give it a go again with South Fremantle.

"We've only wanted to target guys really who are South Fremantle guys and he's a premiership player, his brother Ashton is here and after three or four years away he'd like to come back," Curley said.

"He has been doing a fair bit of work down there on his own with a group down there he's been training with.

"At this stage, he looks fit and he is super keen and he is the one really who instigated initially him coming back. That's the exciting part that he has that fire that still burns and he is a very good player to bring back into your list."