There was a couple notable exclusions from the Gunnedah lineup against the Swans last Saturday.
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One being Jasper Thomas.
The young gun was instead honing his craft with Black Diamond club Newcastle City in an intra-club match.
Thomas won't be lost from the Bulldogs' list for this season but he hopes to play for the Hunter club when he moves to Newcastle for university in 2021.
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Saturday's run gave Thomas a taste of stronger football and also helped fine tune the teenager for the upcoming AFL North West season.
The skills were cleaner, the ball movement was faster and Thomas said he'd be working on a couple areas of his game.
"A big thing I need to work on is, first of all, making sure my kicks and handballs are spot on. That's something I'm always trying to get better at," Thomas said.
"Also in rucks, going in to get the ball and getting amongst the bodies."
The rugby league convert has been playing AFL with the Dogs for the past two seasons and has fell in love with the game.
"By the looks of it I'll stay in AFL for a while. I really like it, it's a great game," Thomas said.
"Being able to come to the Dogs, I couldn't ask for a better club. It's been really inviting."
Thomas also said being able to study some of the league's best players has massively helped his own game.
"It helps to be able to watch guys like Andrew George and Spackers [Jacob Spackman] go around and how they play," Thomas said.
"Ben Maher in the middle as well, watching them all play helped a lot and having Doug there as coach, being able to explain the drill and tell you why you're doing it made it really easy to get used to the game."
The AFL North West season will kick off on July 18 and the Bulldogs will host the Tamworth Swans in their season opener.
