The Bulldogs have beaten the Bombers in the past two Heathcote District Football-Netball League grand finals and have now added Helman as they chase a three-peat next year.

Helman – who came up through the Bombers’ juniors – played in the losing 2015 grand final side against the Bulldogs.

The 21-year-old was on VFL club Williamstown’s list this year, and also played four games for the Bombers, before a broken collarbone ended his season in May.

Helman is a former Bendigo Pioneer who was at the TAC Cup club the same time North Bendigo coach Rob Bennett was an assistant.

“Having played against Joel before, the players and coaching staff know about him and what he’s capable of and we’re rapt to have him on board,” Bennett said on Thursday.

“With the discussions we’ve had with Joel, he felt he needed a bit of a change to get back to enjoying his footy again, and the connection I had with him from when we were at the Bendigo Pioneers was really strong.

“The benefit with Joel is he can play anywhere… he can be dangerous up forward, spend time on the ball, out on the wing, and during his time at the Pioneers also played a bit off half-back.”

By joining North Bendigo from Leitchville-Gunbower, Helman will have an extra player point attached to him given he’s swapping clubs in the same competition.

Leitchville-Gunbower coach Matt Hawken described the loss of Helman to North Bendigo as a “kick in the guts”.

“We’re certainly very disappointed because Joel has been a part of us from right throughout his juniors,” Hawken said.

“The club has done a lot to support him, so it feels like he’s jumping ship in a significant way given he’s going to our biggest rival and have been for a couple of years.

“We could probably understand it a bit more if he was driving down to Bendigo to play with a Golden Square or South Bendigo and would have been very supportive of that, but to play with a team in the same league… it’s very disappointing.”

Helman has been sought for comment.