STEVE Murray is poised to play his first match of the season for Wodonga when the Bulldogs host North Albury at John Flower Oval on Saturday.
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Murray has been playing for Port Melbourne’s VFL development side but with the Borough having a bye, the dangerous left-footer is set to be rushed into the Bulldogs’ team for their must-win clash against the Hoppers.
Only a call-up to Port Melbourne’s senior team would stop the former Ovens and Murray representative, who was best-on-ground in the development league on Saturday, taking his place against the fourth-placed Hoppers.
Murray will be joined by seasoned campaigners Brett Doswell and Jarrod Twitt for the match against North Albury, which the Bulldogs must win to retain any hope of playing finals.
“It's really good to have one of our boys coming back to the club,” Wodonga coach Dean Harding said.
“He will be great for us – our front end will look really good.
“We’re starting to look pretty dangerous up forward, with reasonable size but still pretty mobile as well.”
Murray is set to play against Wangaratta in round nine and could also play against Corowa-Rutherglen, Yarrawonga and Albury in the back half of the season when Port Melbourne has byes.
We will just write the Albury game off – they were that good and are that far in front of everyone else it’s not funny.
- Wodonga coach Dean Harding
While Murray will be a welcome addition to the Bulldogs’ forward line against North Albury, he won’t be joined by Daniel Bradshaw, who continues to battle a back complaint.
Bradshaw kicked eight goals in the opening two rounds of the season but has missed the past five matches.
Harding hoped the Brisbane Lions premiership player would be available for the Bulldogs’ clash with the Magpies at Norm Minns Oval on May 28.
He said the Bulldogs had quickly moved on from their 126-point mauling at the hands of Albury and were keen to recapture their form from the preceding three weeks, where they defeated Lavington and lost to Yarrawonga by a point, against the Hoppers.
“It gives us a chance to carry on our form from before the Albury game,” he said.
“We will just write the Albury game off – they were that good and are that far in front of everyone else it’s not funny.
“We’ve moved on from that pretty quick.
“Hopefully we can take the Lavington game, parts of the Raiders game and the Yarrawonga game before that into Saturday.
“We want to win the game of footy, and we think we can, we just need to get back to that level of footy we were at before the Albury game.
“We’ll have a plan in place but we’ve got to be able to execute that plan, which we think we can.”
North Albury has made an impressive start to the season but is coming off a heavy defeat at the hands of the Pigeons.
Xavier Mardling
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
Xavier started at The Border Mail in Albury-Wodonga in 2001, covering sport and general news before moving to the subs' desk. He was editor of his hometown masthead from 2016 to 2020 before swapping the Murray for Merewether. He returned to The Border Mail as editor in 2023.
