“It seems like it’s been a long time coming. Everyone’s excited it’s finally here,” assistant coach Aaron Byrne said.

The long pre-season gave the Bulldogs the chance to stretch their legs and make a little history, winning the Paul Dooner Memorial Club.

“It sets a good foundation for the season. The two trials we played were against some classy sides,” Byrne said.

The Bulldogs first three rounds are against Gundagai, Albury and Southcity.

“It doesn’t get much tougher,” Byrne said.

Byrne said he and captain-coach Glen Buttriss were pleased with the side which would run on against the Tigers.

“It’s a strong team, we’re quite happy with the side we’ve chosen,” he said.

There’s a few late omissions with Jake Godwin suspended and Matt Forsyth and Luke Levitt both out with injury.

Through pre-season and training, Byrne said there had been a few players pushing to be promoted out of reserves.

“There’s quite a few guys who can quite easily step into first grade and they’ll get their chance through the season,” he said.

“It’s been a long time since we had that depth. Come the middle of the season it will definitely be very important.”

Bryne said one of Gundagai’s key strengths was in their team which they had managed to keep together for a few years.

“They’ve been quite successful, they’ve been in three grand finals and won one of them,” he said.

However, Byrne said there had been plenty of anticipation at the club to see how they performed against some of their Group Nine rivals.

“From the word go, there’s been a good vibe around the whole club from the girls, to the 18s and the two senior sides,” he said.

“Hopefully Coota comes back with a few wins [from Sunday].”

While many will be looking forward to seeing the Bulldogs first grade team, league tag co-captain-coach Renae Glanville will celebrate a huge milestone.

It will be the 100th time she runs out for the Bullettes.

Glanville is only the second player to have recorded 100 games for the club, after her sister Kristen notched up a century of appearances in 2017.

As well as being among one of the Bullettes’ most experienced players, she’s been selected multiple times for group and regional representative teams.

She’s built a fearsome reputation as a player proving to be among the Bullettes best, as well as claiming countless best and fairests during her career.