ONE year on and suddenly Ballarat has added a red strip to this city’s AFL allegiance.
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Ballarat was all royal blue and white and cheering Kangaroos last summer.
Now we are a Bulldog city.
Should this make a difference? Not really.
But we have expectations.
North Melbourne made Ballarat its adopted home base for training and community camps the past six years.
Richmond popped in for a visit and a lap of the lake with Mona in 2006.
The Kangaroos were very much entrenched in this town, including a partial alignment with our Victorian Football League club North Ballarat Roosters and a formal partnership with the City of Ballarat.
Each time they returned, players always remarked on how they enjoyed the familiarity in people and places here.
We liked that they enjoyed training and immersing themselves in our community.
Kangaroos vice-captain Drew Petrie’s presence almost felt like a state visit – a proud Ballarat hometown hero back in town.
Then there was the Kangaroos’ work that went under the radar and away from the media spotlight.
Roos head coach Brad Scott took North Ballarat Rebels’ training last year in what was, to both clubs’ understanding, the first time an active AFL coach led the training for a TAC Cup under-18 team.
Rebels and Kangaroos coaches were working side by side on the field, with about 50 regional football coaches watching on.
Kangaroos were accessible after training to offer advice.
Scott delivered the AFL directly to grassroots football. Strengthening our elite juniors filters back to their home clubs and benefits the whole region.
This link will likely completely disappear when the Kangaroos cut their VFL ties with the Roosters at this season’s end.
North Melbourne set a high standard. Western Bulldogs must make their own mark on our city and imprint their own style.
This alignment came seemingly out of the blue in late October when the AFL let it slip in its NAB Challenge fixture unveil.
Ballarat was suddenly, along with power forward Tom Boyd, the Bulldogs’ headline recruit in the off-season.
AFL scheduling manager Simon Lethlean said the move to Ballarat helped bolster the Bulldogs’ western corridor growth.
“North Melbourne is focused on Tasmania and elsewhere, so they (the Bulldogs) asked whether we would support a game there,” Lethlean said at the time.
“If you look across the natural areas of Victoria – the hot spots to develop the clubs – that western strategy certainly extends to Ballarat for the Bulldogs.
“We’re keen to help them with that strategy as it extends down there and again support councils who want to support our clubs.”
This is great for Ballarat.
We still have an AFL club very much committed to strengthening a foothold in this region.
Kangaroos or Bulldogs – it does not matter in the sense that we will still have access to elite players and club resources.
This can only benefit our region’s football, regardless of how the Bulldogs choose to work us into their western front.
Early talk and actions are really promising.
The Bulldogs arrive on Wednesday and have already confirmed an open training session on Thursday morning at Eureka Stadium.
They bring Melbourne here for a NAB Challenge match on March 14.
These are exciting times for the Bulldogs and they have plenty to prove. They sport a new head coach Luke Beveridge.
Their VFL arm Footscray Bulldogs captured a premiership in its maiden season and invoked nostalgia for Bulldogs past in name and playing before packed crowds at the club’s spiritual home Whitten Oval.
We want them to channel a little of that excitement into Ballarat.
Now, if only Ballarat mayor John Philips could put forward a motion in the chamber to adopt a Bulldog puppy for town hall as a living mascot, then this town will truly be more Bulldog.
melanie.whelan@fairfaxmedia.com.au