Shaun Higgins’ strong VFL performance could see him recalled to the senior team to  take on Hawthorn according to Senior Coach Brendan McCartney.

However, a number of other encouraging performances in the VFL will provide a selection headache, with at least one change to be made after Mitch Wallis sustained a season ending foot injury.

“He [Higgins] is very close to coming back. He went back to work on a couple of things and he did that,” McCartney said.

“It’s tough when you have been a seasoned AFL player to go back and deal with it but he’s went back and played a good brand of footy so he’s certainly given himself a great chance to come back.”

Higgins will join Mitch Honeychurch, Jason Tutt, Sam Darley and Tom Campbell as form players at the lower level — who have all established strong cases for a return to senior football.

As anticipated, the Club’s VFL team has been a strong breeding ground for the Bulldogs next generation, with 39 out of 44 players on the list experiencing football at the highest level this season.

“There’s no doubt there’s a smoother transition [to AFL], we were getting our development done in the previous regime but it has certainly enhanced it,” McCartney said.

“It’s just streamlined it a lot more and I think , or we know the players agree, it has added to our unity – not that there was an issue with it it’s just got them a little bit closer and it’s been good.”