New Western Bulldogs vice-captain Lachie Hunter is happy his club went to the effort of landing Josh Bruce and Alex Keath in the trade period.
The Bulldogs boasted one of the strongest midfielders in the competition in 2019, but seemed a key position player short at each end of the group.
Key forwards were able to take advantage of their backline, while Aaron Naughton needed a partner in crime inside 50.
Hunter believes these additions help tick both of those boxes.
“Going off the two experienced boys and their form and their careers at their previous clubs, we really felt that we needed to add in those key pillars and strengthen our side,” Hunter told SEN Mornings.
“The midfield was playing fairly well, but we just lacked that tall at either end.
“They did really well to get those two in.”
Hunter is part of a new-look Bulldogs leadership group, led by Marcus Bontempelli and admits he never expected to be in this position when his career started.
“It’s a little bit of a changing of the guard with Bontempelli taking over from (Easton) Wood and me stepping into vice and even Josh Dunkley coming into the leadership group, it has definitely got a youthful element to it,” he said.
“I said to the boys yesterday that it’s never quite something I ever thought would have happened when I started out or even a few years in.
“It definitely wasn’t on my radar, but as you gain some confidence and start playing regularly, this is kind of the way things ended up and I’m enormously proud of it.”