TYNTYNDER is hoping to announce its 2014 coach by the end of the week.
But while a senior coach hasn’t been appointed, the Bulldogs have not been idle.
Mark Corrie and Marcus Nalder are caretaker coaches as the players prepare for the start of the season against Woorinen on April 12.
Corrie said numbers had been good despite a number of departures.
But he added a note of caution — the Bulldogs appeared likely to have an inexperienced outfit this season.
“The quantity has been good, but I just don’t know about the quality. That’s no disrespect to the ones that are there, we’ve just got a lot of young ones coming through,” he said.
Corrie said the Dogs had lost some players who were coming in to their prime.
“The ones that should be playing 100 games this season are the ones that have left and that’s very disappointing,” he said.
“You’d think after playing their entire junior footy here they might want to hang around, but it’s a very contentious issue.”
While some are heading down to Melbourne, Corrie said others were off to clubs in the Mallee.
“It’s getting harder for Central Murray sides to retain their playing lists because of what the outer leagues are offering the younger sort of players. It can be hard to compete with that,” Corrie said.
But while some had already left, Corrie said others were still a chance to stay.
“It’s not all doom and gloom. We’re still in talks with a lot of other footballers,” he said.
“We’ve got to go back to the drawing board with another crop of juniors coming through.”
Among those to have left the Dogs this year are Lachy Gilbert (Sea Lake Nandaly Tigers); Kyle Brasser, Mitch Seton-Stewart (Ultima); and Ben Fuller (Balranald).
