Bulls aim for finals glory

By Paul Pickering
NOBLE Park will cast aside a summer of regret this weekend as new coach Kris Barlow looks to lead his Bulls back to September glory.
Having suffered a gut-wrenching loss to Vermont with the final kick of last year’s Division One grand final, Noble Park has no doubt been eagerly awaiting round one.
In the meantime, it has been a busy off-season at the Bullring, with the departure of senior coach Shane Burgmann and a handful of key players.
For Barlow, who was appointed by an independent selection panel that included Carlton recruiting manager Wayne Hughes, the time was right to take the reins after assisting Burgmann last year.
While the list of departures includes the likes of Daniel Kennedy (Bonbeach), Benn Logan (Bonbeach), Luke McConnell (Beaconsfield) and Aaron Cole (retirement), Barlow says the loss of teenage stars Ziggy Alwan (Norwood, South Australia) and George Angelopoulos (Box Hill) will sting most.
And despite the painful memories of 2007, Barlow says he doesn’t believe in redemption.
“I don’t believe in looking back and trying to draw motivation from the past,” he said.
“But you can definitely learn some lessons from it.”
Barlow dismissed suggestions of any psychological scarring within the group, saying the club had made a conscious effort to refresh the playing list.
“Our recruiting policy and philosophy changed a lot this year,” he said.
“We went for young players because we really wanted to build for the future.”
To that end, the Bulls have recruited Port Melbourne quartet Shayne Allen, Dean Kelly, Tim Kelly and Ramy Melhem, while Hampton Park young gun Kain Baskaya and Leongatha ruckman Mark Bradley also join the fold.
With Bradley and Matt Skehan sharing the ruck duties, Barlow expects both big men to be dangerous when pushing forward.
Meanwhile, classy defender Daniel Rigg will benefit greatly from the return of Adrian Little.
“I think we’ve improved on last year’s list,” Barlow concluded.
“We’re talking about a side that finished second last year and I think we’ve had a healthy turnover.”
Barlow expects his former side, Vermont, to be around the mark again this year, while another off-season of aggressive recruiting has further bolstered a star-studded Balwyn list.
The Bulls will travel to Croydon to face the Blues this Saturday, before hosting Norwood under lights in a much-anticipated Anzac Day clash next Friday.