NORTH Bendigo hopes the enthusiasm of its new playing coach Lara Daly will rub off on team-mates and translate to success in the 2021 HDFNL season.
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The quality midcourter is the Heathcote District league's newest A-grade coach, having only being appointed a matter of weeks ago.
But the 26-year-old is already showing she is prepared to leave no stone unturned in her desire to help return the Bulldogs to the upper echelons of the league ladder
The Bulldogs will enter the season off a solid base following a sixth-placed finish in 2019 with five wins and a draw from 15 games.
Their record could easily have looked better were it not for a number of close losses, including a plucky four-goal defeat against grand finalists Colbinabbin.
Daly, who crossed to North Bendigo from Loddon Valley club Marong in 2018, is excited about the possibilities of leading a young and talented Bulldogs squad.
"I'm very excited with the players we have and I think a lot of excitement for me comes from being such a young coach and coming into this with a bit of the unexpected following COVID," she said.
"I think with the players we've got and with the potential we have, and pulling that all together, I've never been more excited for a season, as a player and coach.
"After three years here, this feels like home. I think anyone who comes here to North Bendigo, where we have a fantastic environment that allows people to really enjoy their netball, feels that too.
"But we also want to take that to the next level where we not only have the enjoyment for netball, but also the winning mentality and the success back."
Daly is one of four returning A-grade players from 2019 again lining up for the Bulldogs.
She will be joined by defenders Rhiana Broadbent and Meg McGlone and wing attack Samantha McDougall.
The Bulldogs have been highly active on the recruiting front, adding sharpshooters Imogen Davies and Delainey Holmes, from Eaglehawk, and Georgie Carmen, who is returning to netball.
Carmen will join Broadbent, who is coaching the Bulldogs' A-reserve team, and McGlone in defence, while Davies, who was voted Eaglehawk's best player during the 2019 BFNL A-grade finals series, and Holmes will form a dynamic combination in the goal circle.
Daly is impressed by the potential and early match performances from her exciting new shooting combination.
"From the get-go their chemistry has been fantastic and I think they will be our biggest asset this year," she said.
"Those girls together are dynamite.
"They haven't worked together before this year, but they have an instant connection on court.
"The fact we get to build on that is really exciting."
The player losses from 2019 include Brittany Shannon, who was to have coached the Bulldogs during the cancelled 2020 season, but will play in the Loddon Valley league with Marong this year.
Daly has not ruled out a few more exciting additions to the A-squad before the Bulldogs' season opener against Huntly on April 10.
A first-time coach, Daly's transition will be made easier by the return of Bulldogs stalwart Bobby Simpson as the assistant coach.
"With me being a playing coach we needed to have some eyes off the court and she'll be there to give feedback," she said.
"She's a wealth of knowledge and to come off the court and hear what she has to say and how she assesses the game is going to be a massive help to me and Rhi (Broadbent) in A-reserve."
Following consecutive top-three finishes from 2014-16, including a premiership in 2014 and grand final berth in 2015, the Bulldogs have been absent from the finals picture.
But after securing a strong list of recruits and a fresh coaching panel, hopes are high 2021 will mark a return to prominence at North Bendigo.
"Getting that winning mentality is something we really need to work on as a whole squad," Daly said.
"Every year since (2016), we've had a new set of girls come through that we have had to work with, it's not like other clubs where they have had players consistently returning.
"Being able to come together as a settled side is really our key to being successful."
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