As Gunnedah spluttered throughout 2019, there was at least one consistent element about their play: the surgical displays of Matt Brady.
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In short, the 25-year-old No 7 reached that wonderful plane in which high-level consistency was the norm: his reward another player of the year gong to go with the one he collected in 2017. In both years he was also named Gunnedah's players' player.
Brady described 2019 as "a bit of a funny year". He has "mixed emotions" about how it unfolded: he played to potential; the side did not. That left him"frustrated". "You get that, though," he added.
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"I guess I felt that I was playing well throughout the year," he said. "But it was just hard because I knew our team wasn't playing as good as we could."
As the Bulldogs struggled for consistency, Brady focused on doing the best job he could - a hallmark of all good operators. His kicking game was again superb: his raking downfield kicks a thing of beauty.
"I was just consistent all year, I think," he said. "Each game, you'd turn up with the right mindset ... That's what I remember as similarities between those two years [2017 and 2019]. I was just always switched on, I guess ... Every game I turned up to, I just felt like I was ready to go."
Brady - Group 4's best and fairest in 2017 - formed a lethal right-edge combination with centre Aaron Donnelly last season. Brady scored 14 tries for the year (the second most behind Brenton Cochrane's 16) while Donnelly scored 13.
John Hickey coached Gunnedah in 2019, but has since stepped down from the role. He described Brady as a "natural footballer that thrives in the team atmosphere" - someone who "practices his skills and is the fittest in the team".
"His combination with Aaron Donnelly is the team's best and most successful form of attack," Hickey said. "His defence is second to none, and his kicking game is also outstanding. [It's] almost impossible to keep him out for an entire game."
