Golden Square will regain Jake Thrum if the 2020 BFNL season goes ahead.
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Last year's Derrick Filo Medal winner for the BFNL's best player at inter-league level has returned to the Bulldogs after originally signing with VFL club Geelong and GFL club Bell Park.
With Geelong not part of the COVID-19 restricted VFL season and the GFL season cancelled, Thrum is back training with the Bulldogs, much to the delight of senior coach Bernie Haberman.
"Jake has moved back to Bendigo for work and he's been training with us,'' Haberman said.
"It's a bonus to have him back even though it feels like he never really left.
"He adds to our mix really nicely."
Read more: BFNL stars relish return to footy
Thrum will slot back into a midfield rotation that includes former Carlton player Jaryd Cachia and inter-league trio Jack Geary, Adam Baird and Liam Barrett.
While Thrum is back at Wade Street, key forward Travis Baird won't play with the Dogs in 2020.
Baird left the Dogs at the end of 2019 to play with HDFNL club Mt Pleasant, but the cancellation of the season opened the door for him to return to the Bendigo league.
Haberman admitted he approached Baird about returning, but the popular big man declined the offer.
"Trav thought a year off footy might be the best thing for his body and that he could get a couple more years of footy as a result,'' Haberman said.
"It would have been nice to have him back, but I understand where Trav is coming from."
The Bulldogs have had good numbers at training in the past two weeks as they build their fitness towards a potential return to footy late next month.
"The best thing has been going to footy training and having a few laughs,'' Haberman said.
"In a normal day, how many times do you actually laugh? Probably not many. It's been good to get back to that.
"Six weeks ago I said I wasn't missing footy that much. Now that we're back into it I'm really enjoying it.
"There are some positive signs that we're going to get to play as well...everyone is excited about that and we'll be ready to go.
"Five or six weeks of training and up to 13 weeks of games sounds good to me."
Haberman said the potential nine-round season would be a great test - physically and mentally - for every club in the competition.
"The great thing about a short season is every game matters,'' he said.
"In a normal season if you lose to say Sandhurst in the first round then you at least have the second time you play them to try and even things up.
"There's no margin for error in a season like this. I think this could be the hardest premiership to win."