By Josh Ward.
The Bulls are on the rebound in 2024 after a rare finals miss last season.
Following their third EFNL premiership in 2022, the Bulls fell a game short of making a finals appearance last year having spent the majority of the season in the top six.
Steve Hughes returns to the helm for a fourth season at Pat Wright Senior Oval, with his side getting their season off on the right foot with a 10 point victory against Doncaster East at Zerbes Reserve
“We haven’t had much luck there over the last year or two, and that’s both home and away against Doncaster East, I think even 2022 we weren’t able to beat them. So to go out there and get a win was really pleasing,” Hughes said.
Last weekend saw a much different look for Hughes’ side compared to previous seasons, with key players such as Ryan Morrison, Jackson Casey and Jack Francis all departing for the Mornington Peninsula.
With a new look saw the unveiling of some of Noble Park’s newest recruits, including Werribee VFL-listed player Ariek Lual who, after starting on Tim O’Brien, provided run and dash off half back from midway through the second.
“I thought he was super influential on the game, had a couple of intercept marks, lots of rebound and gave us a bit of drive off halfback.”
Scott McInerney, Jake Mullen, Tom Nelson, Levi Young and Brandan Young also played their first game, with Nelson, his brother Matthew and Brandan Young providing flexibility for Hughes when he made changes to the lineup.
“We’ve got some really good leaders at the club, including Jackson Sketcher and Chris Horton-Milne and some others that have really connected well with the younger boys.”
Fellow leader Kyle Martin is also set to return to the senior fold during the season after injuring his ACL in the build up to 2023, with Hughes saying the Noble Park champion is eager to return to the park.
While Martin may not be having an impact on the field, his impact around the club has continued to be profound according to Hughes.
“He’s an outstanding leader, he’s very intuitive with his stoppage work, he helps our midfield out, he was our runner (last Saturday). He’s great around our young group and I know they look up to him.”
The Bulls will look to continue building on their opening round win when they welcome South Croydon to Pat Wright Senior Oval this Saturday.
