With the exception of the reigning Bendigo FNL premiers, no team in central Victorian footy was spoken about more often than Bridgewater during the off-season.
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The Mean Machine pulled off one of the most fruitful recruiting campaigns seen in Loddon Valley footy.
Pre-Christmas much was made of the signing of BFNL superstars Lachlan Sharp and Lee Coghlan.
Sharp was the best forward in the BFNL over the past decade, is a multiple flag winner and has a plethora of medals to his name.
One of the reasons behind his move from Strathfieldsaye to Bridgewater was the opportunity to co-coach alongside Rick Ladson.
Coghlan returns "home" to Bridgewater from Sandhurst after a stellar BFNL career that included a flag and a Michelsen Medal.
Those two signings alone would be enough to elevate a team to flag contender.
There was much more to come. Strathfieldsaye premiership duo Jack Neylon and Harry Conway are more than handy additions, while Bo Alexander and Xavier Walsh add some toughness and ball-winning ability to the midfield group.
Another form Storm player, Joe Mayes, returns to Bridgewater to stiffen the Mean Machine defence.
Post-Christmas the icing on the cake for the Mean Machine was the late signing of Andrew Collins.
A triple premiership player with Bridgewater, Collins has shelved retirement plans to have another crack with his home club after most recently helping Sandhurst to last year's BFNL grand final.
With Emile Pavlich the only major departure for Bridgewater this year, the Mean Machine look well-placed to challenge Marong and Pyramid Hill for the LVFNL crown.
Q AND A WITH BRIDGEWATER CO-COACH RICK LADSON
The return of Andrew Collins to the club was a late Christmas present for the club. You must be elated to have him back in the red and white jumper?
"We felt like Andy was always going to play, but it took a while to get him over the line.
"The opportunity to play with the Coghlans, and the family involvement the Collins' have with the Pollocks, was always going to be enticing for him.
"He's the ultimate professional for local footy. His body is in great nick and he's ready to go.
What do you have in mind for Andy in terms of his matchday role?
"Andy is so good around goals and he's classy wherever you put him.
"We could get him up the ground into the midfield at times, so we'll see how things are going and decide on a game-to-game basis."
The recruiting campaign you executed was near-perfect. The club must be delighted with the group you've put together for 2024?
"There's no doubt we're pleased with the additions we've made to the footy club.
"When you do your planning you hope for one of these off-seasons, but they very rarely eventuate.
"Ultimately we've been to draw on the family connections around the club and groups of mates.
"These recruits bring a high level of skill to the football club, but more importantly they're great people to have around the club.
"For our younger talent to be able to lean on these guys at training and on gameday is a terrific opportunity for them.
"We'll continue to put development into our local talent and we're looking forward to what the year could bring."
No-one kicked more goals in the BFNL over the past decade than Lachlan Sharp, but he can also be damaging up around the ball with his brilliant field kicking. What's the plan for Sharpy in Bridgewater colours?
"One thing we're focusing on is having our whole list learn how to play all positions.
"We've put time into development of all areases of the ground for every player.
"Sharpy is so dangerous around goal, but he's also very good at working up the ground.
"He'll largely settle into our forward line, but I'm sure he'll play some midfield minutes as well."
Will it be a similar split for Lee Coghlan? Jack Neylon spent most of his time at the Storm in defence, but it seems he's become part of the midfield unit at Bridgewater.
"It's great to have these guys out there because they'll help our younger players.
"Lee will be in our midfield rotations and spend some time in the forward line as well.
"I love what Jack brings to the table. He's a character and he's a good fella off the field. He's played a lot of defensive footy previously, but we think he has a lot to offer in the middle of the ground."
There's been a lot of outside noise around Bridgewater's premiership credentials this year. Internally, do you pour cold water on the hype?
"We don't listen to what's being said.
"The only thing that matters is what's happening inside our four walls.
"It doesn't matter which league you're in, there's always talk at this time of year about certain teams.
"Our focus this year is to improve on what we did last year and improve on every game we play.
"Sharpy and I have the same philosophy around that. I'm sure some of the boys have heard that outside noise, but we won't be buying into it.
"At the end of the day we were 18-20 goals off Marong last year, who are the back-to-back premiers, so we've got a lot of work to do."
How's the co-coaching set-up going between you and Sharpy?
"Co-coaching can be very challenging if you're not on the same page, but both Sharpy and I share the same ideas when it comes to the development of the club.
"We've facilitated things pretty well so far and we're working well together. We're looking forward to getting stuck into the season."
SEASON FIXTURE:
ROUND 1 - April 13
v Newbridge (h)
ROUND 2 - April 20
v MGYCW (a)
ROUND 3 - April 27
v Inglewood (h)
ROUND 4 - May 4
v Pyramid Hill (a)
ROUND 5 - May 11
v BL-Serpentine (h)
ROUND 6 - May 18
v Marong (a)
ROUND 7 - May 25
bye
ROUND 8 - June 1
v Mitiamo (h)
ROUND 9 - June 15
v Calivil United (a)
ROUND 10 - June 22
v Newbridge (a)
ROUND 11 - June 29
v MGYCW (h)
ROUND 12 - July 6
v Inglewood (a)
ROUND 13 - July 13
v Pyramid Hill (h)
ROUND 14 - July 20
v BL-Serpentine (a)
ROUND 15 - July 27
v Marong (h)
ROUND 16 - August 3
bye
ROUND 17 - August 10
v Mitiamo (a)
ROUND 18 - August 17
v Calivil United (h)
