AFTER two years away, Gavin James is returning to Pyramid Hill as co-coach of the Bulldogs in the Loddon Valley league.
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James will co-coach the Bulldogs with Brad Fawcett, who was at the helm of Pyramid Hill this year.
His move back to Mitchell Park comes after spending the past two years at Huntly.
“It’s fantastic to have Gavin back at the club,” Fawcett said on Thursday.
“He’s a local player… the more locals you can have representing the club the better, particularly when they are looking to step into coaching roles. It’s good for the club going forward.”
James returns to the Bulldogs after the club finished fourth this year, bowing out to Calivil United by 93 points in the first semi-final.
Before his two seasons at Huntly, the classy James had been runner-up to Bridgewater’s Adam Parry in both the 2013 and 2014 Loddon Valley league Harding medals.
While the Bulldogs have James returning, high on the list of recruiting priorities is a ruckman to ease the burden on Trent Barri.
“Trent’s an under-sized ruckman and he did a good job competing for us, but we’d like to get a bit more ascendancy around the footy,” Fawcett said.
“And a couple of key position players would be nice as well… a big key forward would be good because we were a bit under-sized down there as well, so getting someone in to be able to help out Nathan Fitzpatrick would be handy.”
Player retention is also a high priority for Fawcett given the Bulldogs had a large turnover last off-season.
“We don’t want to be in the same position again of having to find another 10 or 11 blokes, but the word out of the group at the end of the season was positive that most would be keen to go around again,” Fawcett said.