The club hopes that 2027 will be the year it returns an under-18, or thirds, football side to the Kyabram District League.
The Bulldogs haven’t had a team in the division since 2021, but one of the club’s football directors, Leigh Hall, says the push is being made this off-season to change that.
“It's always been on the cards,” he said. “For clubs to have a long-term future we need to have juniors.
“When I coached here early in the 2000s, the kids were all dairy farmer sons.
“There were plenty of farmers around the area, so there was a core group of players that were living in Merrigum or around Merrigum and you used to pick up a few from Ky and a few from Tatura to make up the rest.
“Now, since the dairy farms have basically gone, you’ve got very limited numbers in town.”
But the club hopes its new trio of coaches can overcome those challenges.
It has brought on Troy Beecroft to lead the side, and he will be joined at the helm by assistants Jake McRostie and Dylan Rowney, all three coming to the role with a list of prospective names as the club looks to build a team from scratch.
“They've got a heap of names between them,” Hall said.
“Numbers-wise on paper we've got plenty, but we're just waiting to see how many of those are going to commit and put their hand up to play for the season.”
It’s no secret Merrigum has struggled for form in football in recent seasons, with the seniors without a win in the last two years.
But bringing back its junior side is seen as a key piece of the puzzle to restoring competitiveness.
“Some of those teams that have been fairly successful over a long period of time, whether it's now, whether it's been the past, it's usually come back to having a good group of juniors that has gone through the ranks,” Hall said.
“While you’ve got good kids coming through, they become one-pointers for you so you're not having to battle with the points system.
“When you haven't got those kids coming through, you're getting in players from elsewhere who come with a points value, and they usually come with a cost associated with them as well.”
Merrigum encourages any juniors interested in joining the club to contact Troy Beecroft on 0488 248 812.
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