CENTRAL District captain Shelby Smith labelled one debutant “an absolute superstar”, another “unreal”, and issued a warning to opposition defences trying to contain a three-prong tall attack.

Smith’s comments come after the Bulldogs’ win over Woodville-West Torrens on the weekend, which backed up a victory over the Eagles in the opening trial match three weeks earlier.

“It was a massive focus this year to obviously get some wins early on the board just so we leave ourselves in a good position come to the end of the year with finals,” Smith said during the week. “That’s always been our downfall, so getting a win Round 1 obviously is awesome.”

Smith felt the game was largely similar to the trial match, but that the Eagles midfielders were better setup to shark the Bulldogs ruck taps, particularly off ex-GIANT Jess Allan as well as Redlegs recruit Georgia Avery who shared those duties.

Though the skipper said it made it more difficult to win clearances, Smith said the inclusions of forwards ex-AFLW listed Crow Katelyn Rosenzweig and 2021 competition leading goalkicker Chantel Reynolds was a boost to the team.

“I said this before the game to the girls, I feel like when you have a Chants (Reynolds) and Rosie (Rosenzweig) and players like Jess Allan, you walk a little taller and a bit more confident running out onto the field because they are just great to have,” she said.

“I don’t know how you try to defend three players in the forwardline having those three there. It makes it hard for the other team which is good for us.”

Another inclusion into the midfield was ex-Rooster Elaine Grigg with the 2022 SANFL Women’s premiership player bringing the pressure across the ground. Smith, whose ties to the club though father Greg – he played 100 games, kicked 90 goals and captained the club in 1991-92 – bear similar resemblance to Grigg’s ties through her grandfather Ray was a patron of the Bulldogs for four decades.

“I feel like she plays football at Centrals like she really cares and I feel like that shows when she’s out there, she does the team-first acts,” Smith said. “Her tackling pressure is unreal. I feel like when she plays, you can tell she cares about the club

“Me being so passionate about Centrals, I like playing alongside girls I can tell they genuinely care about Centrals and want us to do well. I think she had an amazing game, she’s exciting to watch and what she brings to the group is a lot of experience for someone so young.”

As for the two first gamers in the red, white and blue, Smith heaped praise on a couple of “unreal” talents. Sophie Eaton is an exciting forward who has plenty of tricks, and a player who Smith describes an “absolute superstar” who is bound for the AFL Women’s in a few years.

“I think for her first game she did an amazing, she’s just going to build on confidence once she backs herself in a little bit more,” Smith said. “She’s so composed with the ball, her skills are elite and she does take it on a bit.”

The Central District captain said that Eaton could develop into an “unstoppable” force once she backs herself in games more like she does at training, comparing her impact at such a young age to a couple of current top-age star teenagers.

“She had a bit of a run and bounce and at training she does that a lot more so hopefully she backs herself in games to do that a little bit more because she’s going to be unstoppable,” Smith said. “I think she’ll be like the next Lauren Young and Shineah Goody which is good for us.”

The other 2007-born talent in Jasmine Evans missed the Bulldogs two League trial matches, but did not waste much time in announcing herself in the game, providing some flair on the outside on her way to 12 disposals, four marks and three tackles in the Round 1 win.

“Her skills are unreal, I think she can kick 60m and kick goals and she’s going to be another star,” Smith said. “I think you’ll see her just build because she definitely had a really good first game considering that she hasn’t played with us League girls much because she missed out on the trial games, so I’m super excited to have them girls on our team and knowing that they’re the future of our footy club.”

Though the Bulldogs have won two of their past three Round 1 matches, it is often the first month form that drops off, which is something Smith said her team is focused on avoiding. Next up is Sturt, with the grand finalists having a loss to South Adelaide in Round 1, and the Bulldogs famously beat them in Round 6 last season after the Double Blues went on a five-game winning streak to open the season.

Despite those factors, Smith said she was not worried about past results, and refused to go into any game “too arrogantly” because “every game of footy’s hard”. Though Central District did get the four points on the weekend, the skipper said she felt her side had far more ability than what it showed, and she wanted the side to string four quarters together.

“I didn’t feel we played actually our best footy on Saturday and I think we’ve got heaps more to give,” Smith said. “I think we can give any team a run for their money if we can put four quarters together and obviously we’ll just try and do the same thing against Sturt and just play our game and keep building because we’re really hoping we can make finals this year.”