The Dubbo Demons are feeling the benefits of a rejuvenated player base following on from the conclusion of their inaugural AFL 9s competition.
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The swell of new and returning players could mean Club President Joe Knagge's wish to see a women's side return happen as soon as next season.
"It's a mixed competition, so we've got plenty of women playing in it, we're hoping quite a number of them will decide to play football next season and boost our numbers there," Knagge said.
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Knagge said that a number of players who participated in the 2018 premiership winning team have already expressed an interest, but the new source of players means any who have since moved on should be replaceable.
"We've had quite a bit of interest from our players who play in previous years, the ones who showed up in those years, particularly when we won the premiership, but the ones who left we should be able to replace those numbers through the 9s and a few other women who've shown interest."
The newly introduced reserve grade side will likely also be boosted by those who recently competed in the 9s, after the competition received over 85 players participating across the six featured teams.
"The second tier, which is basically a reserve grade side, a lot of the guys who played last year have been doing some pre-season work and training together, mostly running and fitness, for about a month now," Knagge said.
"They're all very keen and there's been some interest shown in that reserve grade side specifically as well, we'll have to wait for the real commencement of the pre-season training at the beginning of February to know for sure, that's where we'll gauge numbers, but at this early stage, it's looking hopeful."
The only downside to the 9s competition, according to Knagge, is that the harsh weather conditions inundating the Central West disrupted the planned schedule.
"It just wasn't suitable for anyone to be outside, let alone playing sport."
"But because that competition was short, we're going to have another four weeks from the start of January 28, looking to get those 85 or so people back again and play some games at 6pm on Tuesday at the South Dubbo Oval."
Knagge said the strong interest shown made bringing the competition back an easy choice.
"Everyone really enjoyed it and we've got such great feedback we wanted to bring it back."
"We want to keep the 9s rolling because of the interest that's been shown and how it's generated interest, it shows that people are looking for a sport that's a little bit different."
The Demons also have further reason to be optimistic, after recent discussions with Central West AFL about limiting the amount of time the Demons spend travelling extreme distances.
"The discussions we've had, they've recognised that the additional travel that a club like Dubbo does and we're looking at having an increased number of home games this year."