THREE-time Golden Square premiership players Travis Baird and Brayden Dorrington are headed to Mount Pleasant in the Heathcote District league.

The Blues were the big improvers of the competition this year and have wasted no time topping up their list with the experienced duo, while James Walsh is also returning to Mount Pleasant after two seasons away.

"We feel we need some more experienced on-field leaders and that's what we've got with Travis, Brayden and James," Mount Pleasant coach Darren Walsh said on Wednesday.

Baird played in Golden Square's 2011, 2012 and 2013 premiership sides and while he has played the bulk of his football with the Bulldogs as a key forward, Walsh hinted at playing the 33-year-old at centre half-back.

Baird - who played five AFL games with the Brisbane Lions and Western Bulldogs across 2005-06 - has endured a frustrating past three years with a mix of hamstring and shoulder injuries.

But Baird is hopeful of completing a big pre-season that will allow him to spend more time on the field next year than off it as he has become accustomed to in recent seasons.

"I'm 33 now so it's probably the time to go and play a bit more of a relaxed type of footy and enjoy the country atmosphere," Baird said.

"The body is feeling good... I've got back into the weights this week to start to strengthen up to help get a good pre-season in.

"I haven't really had a pre-season over the past two years, so, hopefully, if I can get a dozen or so games that would be nice."

Dorrington is a 2009, 2010 and 2012 Golden Square premiership defender who is also coming off an injury-interrupted season after missing the Bulldogs' last seven games with a shoulder.

"My family has always been tied up out at Mounts. My old man played out there and both my sisters play netball out there, plus I've known Woosha (Walsh) for a long time," Dorrington said.

"I'm going in soon to get my shoulder fixed, so, hopefully, that will be good to go for the start of next year."

And in a further positive for the Blues, Walsh has re-committed to the club for another two years, with an option for a third.

Walsh has coached the Blues for the past two years, taking over at the end of 2017 following their wooden-spoon season.

But in Walsh's two years at the helm the Blues have gone from the bottom to this season winning two finals.

The Blues beat White Hills (9 points) in the elimination final and Lockington-Bamawm United (23 points) in the first semi-final.

However, they were belted by 90 points by eventual premier North Bendigo in the preliminary final; a game in which the Bulldogs kicked 24 goals.

"We had two good wins in the finals, which was a positive, but we've still got to get a lot better, particularly defensively," Walsh said.

"North showed us in the preliminary final how big a gap we've still got to bridge to catch them."

Walsh said 17 of the 22 from the preliminary final team had re-signed for next year, including best and fairest and this year's league leading goalkicker Ben Weightman.

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