GNFL round 3 preview: Bulldogs to gauge strength against Demons as Rams face Hawks in qualifying rematch

The new-look Towns side will be put to the test this week when they face Rovers in round three of the Great Northern Football League on Saturday. After many off-season changes, the Bulldogs began their 2024 campaign with a 66-point win over Mullewa in round one. While it was an impressive start, coach Dale Baynes said they have tempered their expectations until they face a tougher challenge. “It’s obviously positive coming from where we’ve come from; to start with a win against Mullewa, we’re really pleased with,” he said. “Although we are under no illusion that we’re coming from a long way back, so we’ve still got work to do. “Rovers this week being a previous top four team for the last however many years, it’s going to present obviously different challenges.” Towns have lived towards the bottom of the ladder in recent years and struggled to contend with the league’s top sides. The team looks stronger this year after adding Beau Walker from Northampton as player-coach working alongside Baynes, who has been an established coach with the club. They will face Rovers, who have been a mainstay in the finals, at Greenough Oval and are hoping to gauge where their team is at. “The contest this week to sort of judge where we are at … we beat Mullewa, who have been down at the bottom with us,” Baynes said. “It’s not really a guide where we’re at, being able to beat them. We want to prove we can go against a better team and Rovers have been that.” The Demons also come into this year looking like a new side, with Chris Scott taking over as player-coach and players leaving over the off-season. Baynes hopes that Towns can work their way up the ladder with the changing GNFL landscape. “We’re hoping that if one of the teams can drop out of the four, potentially being Rovers … then hopefully we can step into that spot,” he said. Towns believe the match against Rovers will be won or lost in the middle. “If we play to our game plan and hold our structures, I think we give ourselves the best opportunity to come away with a win,” Baynes said. “I think a lot will come down to the midfield battle; they’ve got a really good midfield, good up-and-coming young ruckman in Blake Tazwell. “We sort of have the equal in Lachie Morphew, the young up-and-coming ruckman, then our midfield stacks up pretty well now, with Beau there and Paydn Mason, new bloke Blake La Rosa, who won the medal last week.” Player-coach Walker is still new in the role but Baynes said he had provided a new layer to their coaching staff. “It’s good; he’s done a lot of the work in terms of game plan and structures that we’ve implemented, taking the reins over in pre-season just to give me a bit of a spell,” he said. “Come game day he goes out and plays, and I coach on game day. “It’s been working really, really well; we’ve had a pretty good relationship previous to this anyway, so it just enhances that and obviously helps with a win, but it’s been pretty seamless.” In the other round three matches, Northampton will host Brigades at Purcher International Oval in a rematch of last year’s qualifier that sent the Rams into the grand final. At Mazzuchelli Oval, it will be a clash between two country sides as Chapman Valley hosts Mullewa.