Talented big man Jake Stringer, who was in Corowa on Monday for an AFL Community Camp, believes the addition of Collingwood premiership player Travis Cloke and the return of Stewart Crameri from suspension can only be a positive for the defending champions.

“It’s good for me,” Stringer said.

“I’m really excited to get those two in the team.

“I think he’s (Cloke) played 230 games and kicked 300 or 400 goals, so to have someone of his quality join us is really exciting.

“There will be enough room for us all, but it will be interesting to see how it all pans out.

“The beauty about Stewy (Crameri) and myself is we play multiple roles and don’t have to always be down in the forward line together.

“It’s good to have another key focal point and it takes the stress off us smaller boys who can roam around now.”

The Bulldogs kick-off their pre-season campaign against Melbourne at Whitten Oval on Saturday, with Stringer fit and raring to go following an enjoyable trip to the Border.

“I was a country boy myself, so it’s always good to come out to the country and give back,” he said.

“We’ve been privileged to play our sport at the highest level, so hopefully we can inspire some kids to follow in our footsteps.

“I’ll hopefully get a couple of games under my belt just to make sure I’m primed and ready to go for round one.”

Lachie Hunter also made the trip to Corowa along with Stringer and fellow premiership teammates Tom Liberatore and Josh Dunkley and enjoys the opportunity of visiting different communities each year.

“It’s really good to get out here and teach the kids some things and have some fun,” Hunter said.

The 22-year-old is coming off a breakout season and said it’s hard not to reflect on the achievements of the club last season.

“You try look forward to this year mostly, but you can’t help but look back every now and then and appreciate what we did,” he said.

“We aim to finish the back end of the year towards the top four and have a go at finals from there.

“We’ve been really good with injuries at the moment and haven’t had too many during the pre-season.

“All the boys that were injured at the back end of last year are ready to go and things are shaping up really well for round one.

“It felt like we had half a team at some stages towards the back end of the year, but we managed to get through.”

The Bulldogs wrapped up a busy day on the Border with visits to schools in Rutherglen, Barnawartha and Chiltern.