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PYRAMID Hill coach Adrian McErvale believes the key to his side's chances of winning the Bulldogs' first premiership for 69 years on Saturday lies in the midfield.

Standing in the way of the Bulldogs and their much sought-after first flag since 1950 is Mitiamo, with the two standout teams of this year to battle in the Loddon Valley league grand final at Calivil.

"We know Mitiamo has a very good forward line, but I think it's the midfield battle that is going to be the key on Saturday," first-year coach McErvale said on Friday.

"Mitiamo has a really good on-ball brigade as well, so if we can get on top in there and limit their amount of forward entries then I think it's going to hold us in good stead."

The Bulldogs' on-ball unit has been well served this season by two recruits in Scott Mann (11 times in the best) and James Sala (12 times), as well as Billy Micevski (11 times), who was runner-up in the Harding Medal to Mitiamo's Terry Reeves, while assistant coach Gavin James (10 times) has maintained his consistent output.

Micevski and Mann provide the added string to their bows of having combined for 40 goals as well - Micevski slotting a valuable 23, which included a bag of six against Maiden Gully YCW in round seven, and Mann chipping in with 17.

Micevski and Mann are among a spread of nine players who will line up for Pyramid Hill who have kicked at least 15 goals, with the list also including: Braidy Dickens (66), Bailey George (33), Jack Woodward (29), Steven Gunther (23), Jake Willcocks (22), ruckman Adrian Holland (16) and Matt Klein-Breteler (15).

For all the attention that has been given to the firepower in the Mitiamo forward line this year, it's the Bulldogs who have been the superior offensive team.

The Bulldogs have averaged 107 points per game compared to the Superoos' 99 in what has been a massive improvement on last year when they finished third - despite a percentage of less than 100 - but were knocked out in straight sets.

Defence was the cornerstone last year of the Bulldogs, who averaged just 72 points and could muster only one score above 100.

This year though they've played with a far more attacking element given they are averaging 35 points more per game and have cracked the 100-mark eight times, including the season's highest score of 32.11 (203) against Inglewood in round 14.

"If you want to win games of footy you can't just be defending, you've got to score. We've been able to build on our defensive game, but really increase our attacking play too," McErvale said.

The Bulldogs boast the competition's leading goalkicker in Dickens, recruited from Huntly.

Dickens' 68 goals included six against Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in last week's preliminary final, while George with his 33 goals is another new player to the club.

As for the lengthy premiership drought the club is trying to break - when Pyramid Hill takes to the field on Saturday it will be 25,173 days since the Bulldogs' last flag - McErvale says his playing group isn't feeling weighed down by any additional pressure than what naturally comes with trying to win a grand final.

"Obviously the local community has been striving for a long time to get that elusive premiership, but I wouldn't say we're feeling any extra pressure," McErvale said.

"When you're putting a team together each year you're striving for a premiership and our boys have all been fantastic in committing to our gameplan and have executed quite well.

"I don't think we've surprised anyone from within the club because we knew where we were at, but we might have surprised a few from outside the club."

Most of the pre-season premiership talk in the Loddon Valley centred around the pair of Mitiamo and Maiden Gully YCW.

But it was clear after Pyramid Hill thumped Mitiamo by 55 points in round two that the Bulldogs too would be a major player in 2019.

The Bulldogs won their first nine games of the season with an average scoreline of 116-54 and spent 16 of the 18 rounds on top of the ladder, ultimately edging out rivals Mitiamo by percentage for pole position.

The Bulldogs' finals campaign began with a 22-point loss to the Superoos in the second semi-final, but they jumped Bears Lagoon-Serpentine in last week's preliminary final and won by 35 points to create another crack at snapping their drought.

Clearly one of the keys to the Bulldogs this year has been their depth - evident with all three football teams playing in grand finals on Saturday.

"One of our main aims this year was to put together a squad that was going to bat deep. I felt last year we had a lot of good young players, but we needed to bring in a few experienced players to top it up," McErvale said.

"You can see the strength of our twos (undefeated) and how well they've gone this year and that is credit to the list being strong.

"Throughout the year we haven't struggled to replace injured players. Whenever we've had injuries we've always had three, four or five players who could step up to that senior level of footy."

One of the biggest challenges for Pyramid Hill on Saturday will be containing the Mitiamo forward trio of Justin Maddern, Tyrone Downie and Ryan Wellington, with those roles likely to be shared among defenders Dylan Morison, Brad Driscoll and Andrew Dobby.

Despite no senior flag at Pyramid Hill since 1950, there is plenty of premiership experience in the Bulldogs' grand final side.

McErvale (3), Lachlan O'Toole (3), Klein-Breteler (2) and Michael Bateman (1) were all part of premiership teams during Golden Square's run of five in a row in the Bendigo league between 2009 and 2013.

The Bulldogs brought in Ben Dalton and Sam Mewett for Jack Hickmott and Aidan Murphy on Thursday night, while co-captain Trent Barri is sidelined with a hamstring.

13 - MICHAEL BATEMAN

Games: 13 Goals: 0

21 - BRADLEY DRISCOLL

Games: 15 Goals: 0

29 - DYLAN MORISON

Games: 17 Goals: 0

............................................

12 - ANDREW DOBBY

Games: 17 Goals: 1

4 - DYLAN TONKIN

Games: 14 Goals: 0

15 - MATT KLEIN-

BRETELER

Games: 16 Goals: 15

............................................

1 - BAILEY GOODWIN

Games: 14 Goals: 1

6 - SCOTT MANN

Games: 18 Goals: 17

7 - ADRIAN McERVALE

Games: 11 Goals: 6

............................................

39- BAILEY GEORGE

Games: 18 Goals: 33

8 - LACHLAN O'TOOLE

Games: 10 Goals: 5

35 - STEVEN GUNTHER

Games: 18 Goals: 23

............................................

38 - JAMES SALA

Games: 14 Goals: 0

77 - BRAIDY DICKENS

Games: 17 Goals: 68

43 - JAKE WILLCOCKS

Games: 17 Goals: 22

............................................

40 - ADRIAN HOLLAND

Games: 18 Goals: 16

2 - GAVIN JAMES (C)

Games: 18 Goals: 8

10 - BILLY MICEVSKI

Games: 17 Goals: 23

............................................

9 - EVAN DORRINGTON

Games: 16 Goals: 0

22 - SAM MEWETT

Games: 10 Goals: 1

3 - BEN DALTON

Games: 17 Goals: 5

26 - JACK WOODWARD

Games: 16 Goals: 29

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