Club: Western Bulldogs
Coach: Nathan Burke
2020 captains: Ellie Blackburn
2020 best and fairest: Izzy Huntington
Welcome back Izzy! ??
— AFL Women's (@aflwomens) March 3, 2019
Huntington gets a goal and the girls get around her! #AFLWFreoDogs pic.twitter.com/nYysg2TQ4u
2020 in a nutshell: A season of transition that turned out to be a real battle for the Bulldogs. Following a first-up win over newcomers St Kilda, it was five straight losses, many by heavy margins. The Bulldogs conceded the third-most points in the competition, but in playing a raft of teenagers, it was always going to be a development year.
New players: Katie Lynch (Collingwood), Jess Fitzgerald, Sarah Hartwig, Isabelle Pritchard
YOUR CLUB'S DRAFT All you need to know about the 57 new faces
Notable departures: Aisling McCarthy (West Coast), Hannah Munyard (Adelaide), Nicole Callinan (retired)
Inactive players: Katy Herron
2021 opponents: St Kilda (a), Carlton (h), Adelaide (a), Richmond (h), GWS (a), North Melbourne (h), West Coast (a), Melbourne (a), Geelong (h)
FULL 2021 AFLW FIXTURE Check it out here
Circle it: Round four against Richmond at Whitten Oval should be a belter – it's the first time the Bulldogs will face Katie Brennan and Monique Conti since the pair left the club in 2019.
Player to watch: It's hard to take your eyes off Izzy Huntington. After such a great season in 2020 coming off an ACL, it's not inconceivable the strong-marking key-position player will be even better in 2021.
Best Rising Star chance: Jess Fitzgerald
2021 prediction: With such a young team still building, it's hard to expect too many wins from the Dogs. Although it's unlikely they'll play finals, there's still enough talent and development on the list to be more competitive than 2020.
