THE ARRIVAL of Luke Beveridge at the Whitten Oval has re-energised the Western Bulldogs’ playing group, according to tagger Liam Picken.
After an exhaustive search, the Bulldogs appointed Beveridge as their new senior coach in November last year, following the resignation of Brendan McCartney a day after 2014 skipper Ryan Griffen left for Greater Western Sydney.
As well as Griffen, the Bulldogs also lost senior players Adam Cooney (Essendon) and Shaun Higgins (North Melbourne) during the free agency and trade period.
Picken told AFL.com.au Beveridge's arrival had brought some stability and positivity back to the club.
"I think when there is a change at any club you feel more energised, particularly at the start of the year," Picken said.
"Not only have we got a new coach but we've got 12 new guys and with so many young guys at the club, there's just a really good feel.
"All the boys have really responded well to Luke. We're all training really well and overall we're just excited to have him on board."
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The players returned to the club earlier this week with the list in relatively good condition.
Nearly every player participated in Thursday's gruelling three-hour training session, with defender Dale Morris, ruckman Tom Campbell and midfielder Clay Smith the only players training away from the main group.
Having spent the past three seasons as an assistant coach at Hawthorn, Beveridge has brought his own flavour to the Bulldogs' pre-season training regime.
No goals have been set for the season proper as yet, but the club is hopeful of building on last season's seven wins despite having lost more than 800 games of experience in the off-season.
Despite the departures of Griffen, Cooney and Higgins, plus the retirement of veteran Daniel Giansiracusa, Picken believes others will step up to make their mark.
"I think generally the whole playing group feels we need to lift and help each other this year," he said.
"There are so many guys here in the younger age bracket that are hoping to step up and help everyone. We just need to share the load."
