“We are doing really well,” coach Adam Kyle said. “We are four weeks into training and we are getting between 40 and 60 players showing up to training and prepared to work really hard.

 “The commitment being shown is overwhelming and we are already seeing results in terms of fitness.

“The support they are showing early is a step in the right direction of being ready when the competition begins in the second week of April.”

Goulburn Bulldogs Women’s League Tag team has also been training alongside the men at the Workers Arena and their numbers have been similarly significant.

“ When I took the job with the club I told the board that I wanted to  improve the culture and make it more inclusive and open,” Kyle said. “Even simple things like the web page and Facebook need to be open to the community so they can see what we are doing.

 “A couple of weeks ago we had a dinner at the club and about 35 people attended.

“I feel it is important to show the community what we are doing and to be part of the community. In recruiting players for the teams I did not want players who were just there to play football, but ones who would take an interest and get involved in the community and buy into the town.

“Since training began we have been changing things around and challenging the participants with conditioning games and making it enjoyable, as well as being hard work. We are looking to teach the players different ways of defending and attacking.

“As pre-season advances and we get a couple of trials under out belts, you will see changes.

 “We are using the stronger harder training players to step into leadership with the younger and less fit players and encourage them in a positive way.”

Kyle said they have even had some of the older players pop their heads in and get involved, looking to come back to strengthen the reserve grade. He often has a camera at training sessions and gets one of the support people on the sidelines to take some shots so they can put them up on Facebook to spread the word about what is happening with their training.