And he's hopeful his days of being the team's 'Mr Fix It' are over after the club's recruitment drive.

The 26-year-old was thrown into a number of unfamiliar positions last year, unselfishly putting his hand up as a senior player to do so.

He played ruck at times when Canberra recruit Shaun Allan was unavailable through injury or COVID restrictions, and even manned up on the league's leading goalkicker Trent Castles in a clash against Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes.

The Bulldogs have added height and experience in their team after signing inside midfielder Jesse Margosis, key defender Tim Doyle and centre half-forward Andrew Emery, all of whom have played previously for the club.

Ashcroft has family in Wagga and plans to "kill two birds with one stone" with the weekly nine hour round trip from Wollongong.

"I'm still going to play and travel, do the haul every week and play back home," he said.

"I wanted to get up here years ago. I've got some mates up here and some things in life changed that, but I'm plumbing again and back in the trade.

"It's nice to get juniors back and blokes who are familiar faces. It's good to have a big body like Emery back, he's very versatile and Jim Doyle has played a few years there too and is tough as nails.

"Jesse Margosis into the squad, he's played some good footy in the Hume and Farrer Leagues, and played with us in the COVID year (2020)."

The new faces means Ashcroft hopes to play much more game time in the engine room.

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"I've been known to be chucked around but I'm happy to do the team thing first," he said.

"We've had a chat and Zocc (coach Michael Mazzocchi) sees me playing more consistently through the midfield now with the squad we've got.

"It should be nice and I've dropped a couple of kilos too, I should be able to carry myself better in there.

"Zocc will send through the running program and I'll do exactly what the guys do at training. One night a week I'm training with Wollongong Bulldogs so I don't miss out on skills."

The Bulldogs began last year slowly in Mazzocchi's first year in charge, but showed promising signs late with wins over top four sides in Wagga Tigers and the Goannas.

Ashcroft is adamant they're far better placed to get some early wins on the board.

"When you have a new coach come in with a new game plan and structures, I always say it takes a year to fully work it out," he said.

"The second year it becomes a lot more natural and you can hit the ground running. What Zocc's done has been excellent.

"You can't expect things to change overnight, it's process."

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