Gisborne in unfamiliar territory

With five rounds remaining in the Bendigo Football League season, the Bulldogs have been accustomed to building up for a tilt at flag glory in September.

But not this year, with the Bulldogs now playing for pride over the rest of the season, with the club headed for just its third absence from the finals since joining the BFL from the Riddell District Football League in 2000.

The Bulldogs have won just four games and sit eighth on the ladder in what has been a dramatic fall after the club last year was less than a kick off playing in the grand final.

“Knowing that we probably won’t play finals, it’s not easy mentally going into these last five games… it’s not easy for me or anybody,” Gisborne coach Rod Sharp said on Thursday.

“From here we’ll be looking at the players to play with pride, character, give effort and strive for self improvement, and with that, we’ll find out who wants to be here going forward.

“No doubt the club wants to turn around where it’s at in the not to distant future, but in the short-term we’re not going through a great period and it’s testing for everybody.”

The Bulldogs are at home to South Bendigo on Saturday in what will be a day the club unveils it’s new electronic scoreboard.

While the Bulldogs have won just four games, it’s twice as many as South Bendigo, with the Bloods sitting ninth at 2-11.

Although, one of the Bloods’ two wins was against Gisborne when it belted the Bulldogs by 61 points at the QEO in round five.

Gisborne will again be without injured captain Casey Summerfield (calf), while 2012 Michelsen medallist Scott Walsh, who hasn’t played since having surgery on a scaphoid injury in May, won’t return this year.

And in a further blow for the Bulldogs, they have also lost youngster Ethan Minns for the rest of the season with a knee injury he suffered 20 minutes into his first senior game of the year in last Saturday’s 80-point loss to Golden Square.

Minns had worked has way back into the Bulldogs seniors after battling osteitis pubis for much of the year.

“He loves his footy and he’s popular around the club, so it’s really disappointing his season has ended this way,” Sharp said.

Meanwhile, Saturday’s game will also double as a reunion of Gisborne’s 2005 premiership.

The Bulldogs defeated Eaglehawk by 31 points, 14.17 (101) to 10.10 (70), in the 2005 grand final in a game in which Bulldog Ty Elliott was awarded the Nalder Medal as best on ground.

BFL round 14 tips:

Adam Bourke (56) – Eaglehawk, Gisborne, Golden Square, Sandhurst, Strathfieldsaye.

Luke West (50) – Eaglehawk, Gisborne, Golden Square, Sandhurst, Strathfieldsaye.

Nathan Dole (48) – Eaglehawk, Gisborne, Golden Square, Sandhurst, Strathfieldsaye.