THEY'RE certainly not pushing the panic button, but Turvey Park coach Michael Mazzocchi conceded a horror first quarter in their loss to Collingullie-Glenfield Park will spark some changes.
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The Bulldogs were well off the pace in the opening term of the season opening 46-point loss at Crossroads Oval on Saturday, where they conceded nine unanswered goals.
They were competitive for the rest of the match, but Mazzocchi said some regular faces to come back in will ensure a different line-up will travel to Narrandera next weekend.
A handful of players unlucky to miss the first grade cut like Chase Grintell, Will Ashcroft and Sam Jones will come into consideration.
"You spend three months over pre season working on certain things, I'm not just going to toss them out just because of one bad quarter," Mazzocchi said.
"But I certainly don't want to disregard it, certainly we'll take it on board. We'll make some changes, no doubt about that.
"We won't accept that performance and not make changes, but we won't go changing our whole structure because Gullie dominated us for 30 minutes."
Mazzocchi said the Demons, tipped to be one of the Riverina League's big improvers this year, beat them at the coal face.
"There was definitely that element in there. Collingullie was better in their method and outnumbered us at the contest," he said.
"Considering Shaun (Allan, ruckman) won 90 per cent of the taps and we were well beaten in clearances, the midfield was beaten badly in that first 30 minutes.
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"Whether we had the right mix in there or the personnel or whether the guys were ready for that battle, there's a few questions there, but it's hard to put your finger on it.
"We really wanted some leaders to stand up, stem the flow and slow the play down, but we didn't see that at all.
"We just let it run and when you break it down, three or four of their goals came from free kicks and penalties, so it was a bit of ill discipline (too).
"We'll move forward and it's round one, it's not the end of the world."
The good news is the Bulldogs will welcome back some prime movers for the Eagles clash.
Canberra recruit Corey Baxter will make his club debut, Matt Ness will return and they hope to have Giants Academy players Luke Fellows and Jack Glanvill available.
Mazzocchi said Melbourne-based inside midfielder Callum Dooley was solid in his first game, while young forward Baxter Wallett was the standout with six goals.
"Most of those goals came from contested marks as well. His hands were really good on the weekend," Mazzocchi said.
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