Jarrod Twitt, Daniel Bradshaw return for Wodonga Bulldogs against Raiders

Daniel Bradshaw and Jarrod Twitt will add much-needed experience to the Bulldogs side that went down to Yarrawonga by a point in round four.

Former coach Twitt comes in for his first match of the season following a niggling calf injury while Bradshaw, who is being carefully managed, is back after kicking eight goals in the first two rounds.

The Bulldogs and Raiders are 1-3 after four rounds, with both sides’ victories coming against Corowa-Rutherglen, and the loser of Monday’s match will face a significant challenge to make the top five.

Wodonga coach Dean Harding said Twitt and Bradshaw were missed against Yarrawonga and would be crucial inclusions against the Raiders.

“A bit of experience out on the ground will help for sure,” he said.

“It’s a bit like what (Raiders coach) Daryn Cresswell was saying when he was talking about playing himself, not that I’m going to play, but if I can get Daniel and ‘Twitty’ out there, that’s going to help us from an on-field leadership point of view.

“That last five minutes against Yarra, it would’ve been great to have ‘Twitty’ running around.”

Harding said Twitt had been close to playing against the Pigeons at John Flower Oval but maintained it was the right call to play it safe with the veteran.

“We’ve got 14 games left and we’d like him to play as many of those as he can,” he said.

“We know he’s not going to play all of them, but when he’s playing he can really help Harry McKimmie, Patty Stow, Nick English, Aaron Proctor and all these kids.

“He can really help fast track them.”