Work may have stopped for the weekend but this is as much a construction site as a sports ground, with supporters pushed to the muddy edges of the oval while they wait for the new spectator areas to be completed.

And the Bulldogs' rebuilding job is every bit as metaphorical as it is literal, with their wall-to-wall success from the pre-COVID days well and truly over.

But the mood here, just like the weather, is bright, and with good reason.

A huge cultural shift is taking place at Thurgoona and while the next premiership may have to wait for a few more years, wins of a different kind are already evident.

But to understand the present, a quick history lesson is in order.

"Back in the 2000s a lot of players had the belief that if you went to Thurgoona, it was more about what happened after the game than during it," president Steven Michelini recalled.

"At the time, that was definitely true. It was renowned as being a bit of a party club, more of a social hitout with the boys on the ground and they weren't too concerned about winning.

"It was never easy getting those big hidings. I remember playing in a game where it was well over 200 points and that's not fun.

"They had the right people around, they just couldn't get the players out here. Back then, Thurgoona wasn't growing the way it is now so if you did come out this way, it was out of the road.

"Why would you come out to Thurgoona when you could play in Albury?

"There was a stage when the club was in a lot of trouble, not so much financially but it was more getting players to the club and sticking around.

"A few of the older, smarter heads thought we needed to get a good coach to get some good players in so that's what they started doing. It made a huge difference because they started attracting not only Hume league players but ex-Ovens and Murray players, because they thought Thurgoona was a place that was on the up.

"With the infrastructure in place, slowly starting to build, the club started lifting out of the doldrums, started winning a few games, becoming competitive on the field but also off the field; they were starting to put together a good blueprint of people staying around."

The tough times on the football field were mirrored on the netball court.

"I've played in some of the lowest of lows, when we were losing by 70-80 goals," veteran netballer Kami Kimball said.

"But it was the club and the people in it which kept us going.

"We knew we were going to get beaten, week to week, and get beaten badly, but we just had so much fun. We didn't care for the result. It was such a close-knit community back then.

"The footballers went three years without winning a game and I still remember the day they won their first game. We celebrated well into Sunday, like it was a grand final."

Thurgoona went on to win four A-grade flags in a row between 2013 and 2016.

"I still get all teary thinking about it," Kimball said.

"I don't take a single game for granted. It's an insane feeling to show up and be able to participate in those finals series, knowing where the club had come from.

"I put my uniform on every week with pride, purely because I know how hard people have fought behind the scenes to enable us to have the opportunity to be here.

"The club could have folded on many occasions but there were so many people fighting for us in the background that got us over the line and to step on the court is an absolute honour every week."

Those playing days are now just a memory for B-grade coach Kristie McInness, who snapped her Achilles tendon earlier this season.

"I'm not allowed to play netball any more," McInness said.

"It was devastating to hear that. Netball is a big part of my life and it's all gone. It's very sad.

"For the first couple of weeks after the injury, I was in shock and I found it pretty hard to come to terms with it.

"It's hard to sit on the sidelines but I'm very lucky I've got a coaching role to keep me busy."

McInness arrived at Thurgoona having just won a three-peat with Yackandandah.

"They weren't winning a lot of games back then so it was a bit of a shock," she admitted.

"But it just evolved. We had some really good people at the helm, who drove people to want to be successful and encouraged that mentality of commitment and turning up two nights a week to put something on the court on a Saturday.

"We won four in a row, which hasn't been done at all other than us. It was sensational.

"It was pretty incredible at the time and looking back now, you just hope no-one else can ever do it because it's a pretty special thing.

"It gets harder and harder each year and the pressure is a lot higher as opposed to the team which takes the court with nothing to lose. We had everything to lose."

Mardi Nicholson and Tayla Dean now captain an A-grade side in contention to play finals this year.

"We've only got three existing players from last season but we're all pretty similar in age and we've bonded really well, on and off the court," Nicholson said.

"I love it at Thurgoona. I don't think people would be here if they weren't enjoying it.

"There was a death at the club this year and the way people rallied together to help the family, it just shows this is a really close-knit family club."

That must be music to the ears of vice-president Renee Whitehead, who I find rocking a baby off to sleep in a buggy next to the netball courts as the subject of the club's former 'party culture' is raised.

"We've completely shifted away from that," Whitehead said.

"Our coach, Dan Cleary, has been the biggest advocate for that, changing the culture completely.

"Our 'Last Man Standing' event last year was probably the biggest catalyst for change.

"It's always been an event where people can come and drink for three hours but last year we made a concerted effort; we got in jumping castles, face painters and the entire tone of the day was so different.

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"People were a little bit nervous, wondering if people going to come and get drunk with a lot of kids around but it was a beautiful family day.

"Dan's done an amazing job, he's been very clear about that.

"Thurgoona has been known for a really long time for winning but this year we want to be known for our junior development and family atmosphere, being somewhere you want to come and spend time with your family."

Just along the boundary, Cleary is in relaxed mood ahead of the Bulldogs' clash with Tallangatta.

"This is a different environment to many places you can go, where a 16-year-old can interact with a 35-year-old and be treated on the same level," Cleary said.

"It's very unique in that way. If you're surrounded by the right people and doing the right things, it helps us breed a really good culture through the junior ranks.

"As disappointing as it is to have lost so many people who were part of our senior success, there's a blessing in the fact we treated it as a reset.

"The guys we brought into the club were really specific, we made sure they were coming for the right reasons. We explained what we were trying to achieve and the guys who jumped on board understood that maybe success wasn't one or two years way, it might be four or five years away.

"Two years ago, I made a booklet about my expectations of what I want guys to be like at the football club.

"This is like a home, so it's a place you treat really well. It's a luxury to be able to play footy, not everyone gets to do it and there's people who give time and effort to make that happen, so treat those guys with respect, have conversations with them, thank them or lending a hand whenever you get a chance.

"I think when guys understand how much work goes into running a footy club, that's when they start to get an appreciation for being part of it and not taking it for granted."

That message isn't lost on football operations manager Paul Osmond, whose memories of the club's maiden flag in 2016 are among the motivating factors behind his work with the current crop.

"It took us more than 25 years to win one," Osmond said.

"It was one of the best feelings I've had around a football club.

"When the siren went, it was just a relief that we'd actually won a flag.

"You just couldn't contain the excitement, it was overwhelming, and then you sit back and reflect on what's happened over the years."

Like its population, Thurgoona's football club continues to grow with female football the newest chapter in the Bulldogs story.

Adam Browne, who coaches the under-17 and open women's sides, has been blown away by the journey.

"It's like nothing I've experienced," Browne said.

"There were times I was wondering whether we'd get there but momentum builds momentum and I love coming down here on a Saturday, talking with the guys because 50 people today will ask me 'how's the girls going, where are you playing tomorrow?'

"We're starting to see, even people that aren't involved with our game, getting along to our games.

"We've got more teams than almost any other club in the region.

"We have under-14s through to senior football, three grades of girls football and six or seven grades of netball, which trumps even the big Ovens and Murray clubs.

"When you look and see what's going on with the new clubrooms, I can't overstate how much support comes from the club for the girls game.

"To be able to offer new showers, clean amenities and equal room to netball and football so everyone can enjoy the facilities, it's something that can no longer be a hindrance, and I think it will be a game-changer."

Michelini's committee may be small - and more volunteers are desperately needed - but playing numbers won't be an issue any time soon.

"We've been very lucky over the last 10 years in regard to the influx of people around the area but our main focus is to make sure we still look after those junior kids who have always been in Thurgoona and are going up that ladder," Michelini insisted.

"Yes, we want to embrace all these new people and tell them they can have a game but the last thing we want to do is kick out our junior kids who have been here for a long time.

"This is more significant than a lot of people think," he added, pointing to the girders on the construction site.

"We've been fighting a long time for these clubrooms because what we have is nearly third-world conditions. It's a brick shed and back in the day, it did its job, but its's outdated now."

And when those new facilities are completed to match the club's progressive ethos, don't rule out the Bulldogs building towards another dynasty.

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