Gisborne coach Clinton Young is confident the Bulldogs' 2019 finals campaign has whet the appetite for the 2020 BFNL season.

The Bulldogs fell an agonising four points short of qualifying for the grand final after they went down to Eaglehawk in the preliminary final in one of the most courageous performances in the club's history.

Despite the emotional strain of the tragic passing of team-mate Nathan Williams less than a week earlier, the Bulldogs did themselves proud by stretching the reigning premier to the final siren.

After finishing fifth in 2018, the Bulldogs jumped two places in 2019.

"Full credit to Eaglehawk and Strathfieldsaye because they've shown in the past few years what it takes to win big finals,'' Young said.

"As much as we've improved we still have a bit to go to reach the pinnacle of Bendigo footy.

"It's all about playing your best footy come finals time. We were disappointed with our second-half against Eaglehawk (qualifying final), we responded well against Square (first semi-final) and then we played well in patches in the preliminary final.

"To continue our improvement we need to find that hunger to go all the way. Sometimes clubs fall just short and that can be a way of finding that determination to go again next year.

"I'm confident, as a club, we have the playing group that will come back bigger and better next year."

The Bulldogs will also be hoping for a change of luck with injuries in 2020.

They lost inter-league defender Jack Reaper (knee) before round one and then had key forwards Jack Scanlon (shoulder) and Jaidyn Owen (knee) suffer season-ending injuries.

Key midfielders Ethan Minns and Matt Goodyear also missed the preliminary final because of injuries.

"If you said to me at the start of the year that we'd go into a preliminary final without Jack Reaper, Jack Scanlon, Jaidyn Owen, Matt Goodyear and Ethan Minns I would have suggested that we would have been up against it,'' Young said.

"We played the reigning premiers and to put in a performance like we did...I told the club how privileged I felt and how proud I was of the boys that represented the club."

While the Bulldogs have points to spare when it comes to recruiting, most of their improvement for 2020 will come from within.

Brad Bernacki, who finished equal second in the Michelsen Medal, is only 19. Wingman Sam Graham showed plenty of class in the finals and is also only 19.

BFNL rising star winner Liam Spear and impressive midfielder/forward Seb Bell-Bartels are still 18.

A scary thought for opposition defenders across the BFNL is that the best Bulldog of them all - key forward Pat McKenna - is just 23 and his best footy is in front of him.

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