Operating a country sports club can be like driving an old car: running repairs are needed to keep it going, and frustration hovers.
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But every once in a while good luck descends from the heavens.
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That's what happened at the Bulldogs when Doug Meagher arrived in town ahead of last season as the new general manager of the Gunnedah Services and Bowling Club, and soon to be the Bulldogs' new coach.
"He just walked through the door of our footy club last year, gets a premiership in his first year," Dogs president Hamish Russell said.
"And in his second year, we now have three teams behind us (for the first time, the club will field women's and under-14 teams)."
Those two teams will be in action against the Swans before the senior men begin their premiership defence against the Tamworth outfit at Wolseley Oval on Saturday.
It will be one of the greatest days in the proud club's history, and will be made even more special when juxtaposed next to the bleak periods the Bulldogs have endured.
Russell said Meagher had added a touch of professionalism to the club.
The native Victorian was signed by Essendon and Sydney but never played an AFL game, and then coached in Tasmania, NSW and Queensland, before stepping away from the game some two decades ago and not returning to it until arriving in Gunnedah.
Russell said: "Even though we're a tinpot footy club, he really has made his mark on our club in terms of taking us to that next level: professionalism and the way we play our footy - the structure, the way we move the ball, even the positioning of players.
"Like, he's got some players in positions that we would never have considered before, and their performance has really improved ... we're really lucky."
Russell said Meagher was "bulldog like" in terms of his work ethic - not just at the club but at the services club too.
"Back in the day, before COVID, he goes to every sporting club and promotes the ability of them to get sponsorship from him," Russell said.
"So he really does embody that services nature of his club. Because he goes out there and makes sure there's money for all the sporting clubs in town."
Bulldogs captain Ben Maher said Meagher compelled his players to be the "best that you can be".
"He knows what he wants, and you know what he expects out of ya," Maher said, adding: "He's got a level of intensity that doesn't scare ya: it makes you want to be better ... he just wants you to play better."
Meagher, he continued, instilled competitiveness in his players - "to hit the ball hard".
"It's great, really," he said.
