This time of the year is all about the pre-season bolter. It's about who's standing out and who's set for their best year yet.
Make no mistake, there is no shortage of Bulldogs tearing up the track this summer at the kennel, but there’s one player in particular that has caught the eye of midfield coach Steven King, Tom Campbell.
While Campbell spent the majority of the year in the VFL after an interrupted pre-season, he managed to break into the senior side late in the year before going down with a thigh injury, but not before he chalked up a dominant 32-hitout performance against the Cats in round 16.
King told westernbulldogs.com.au that with a clear run at it, Campbell can be a high impact player for the Club.
“Obviously he’s a big man, he had a shoulder reco after the VFL premiership (in 2014) and it set him back a little bit, but this year he hasn’t missed a beat.
“Whether it’s running, all the skill work, his GPS data has been fantastic all the way through.. you can just tell he’s really hungry.
“He was probably a bit disappointed in his year last year and he’s really keen to make amends.”
There’s just over a month remaining until the Club’s first NAB Challenge hit out against the Giants in Canberra, and now that the players are back on the track, King says that pre-season training has entered a new phase and competition for spots has intensified right across the ground.
“Obviously there are no guarantees for anyone at the moment.
“What you’ve done over the last three months and how we go in the pre-season will determine who’s up at the right time of the year, grabs a spot holds onto it.
“We’re starting to get a few players reintroduced from rehab, there’s a lot more game focus, [and we’ve] upped the tempo – the intensity’s gone up now.
“The first week back you’re cautious not to lose anyone in match like intensity drills. We’re well into that now so moving onwards, we’ll be ramping it right up.”
As Melbourne’s sweltering summer temperatures eased toward the end of the week, King said that competition amongst the group can only be a good thing for a young team looking to build on the success of 2015.
“I think we’ve brought in some pretty good young kids through the draft, obviously Matty Suckling and Jed Adcock as well, [and] I do feel a real sense of competition for spots this year.
“We saw that in the back half of last year – how hard it was for some guys to break into the team – I think that’s only going to increase this year,” he said.
“I think guys are starting to look around now and are going ‘gee, there’s some talent here on this list, where do I fit in in terms of best 22. I’ve got to get off to a good start to grab a spot.’”
