DRYSDALE captain Mitch McGuire is confident added midfield depth can help his club return to finals for the first time since 2013.
The Hawks fell just short of a top-five finish in 2019, but with the addition of the likes of former St Mary’s star Flinn Chisholm, James Breust from Maribyrnong Park Sam Fleming (Portland), are aiming to end the club’s longest absence from the BFL finals.
“Everyone knows it’s not our culture,” McGuire said.
“We’re building towards being not just a strong side this year but a strong side for years to come,”
“I think that’s probably what our goal is, which is not just the short term future, it’s the long term future as well and being that powerhouse, like your Ammos.
“Drysdale used to be like that, and we probably lost our way the last couple of years, but our culture’s really strong, and we’re definitely getting there.”
Chisholm has shown in the two practice matches he’s played why his career took him as far as seeing VFL action with Werribee.
“He’s moving very well; he’s fit,” McGuire said. “I’m quietly confident about him.
“He’s really, really impressive, and he’s moving really well. We played Leopold, and he copped a bit of a knock to the head in the third quarter, so he sat that out, and he had this week off, but he’s had two really solid hitouts.
“I’d say he’d be feeling pretty confident in himself. He hadn’t played in a while, but he’s got a couple under his belt.
“I think, hopefully, he’ll be really handy for us.”
McGuire says Drysdale’s practice matches against Maribyrnong Park, Leopold and Cobden have given the Hawks a chance to rework its forward structure following the season-ending knee injury suffered by spearhead Jarrod Garth.
“We’d love to have him, but you’ve just got to move on and do with what you can and not cry poor or anything like that,” he said.
“There’s a few guys we’ve thrown in there, and they’re doing really well.
“We played Cobden and had a couple of guys kick a few goals and stuff like that.
“Hopefully, we have a range of scoring (options) and not just relying on one guy like ‘Garthy’.”
Drysdale opens its season on Easter Saturday with a trip to Barwon Heads.
Twitter: @tom_king79
