Bulli players Dave Buchanan (left) and Matt Naylor at Balls Paddock, ahead of the weekend's Illawarra Premier League grand final. Picture: DAVE TEASE
Thrown in with a bunch of a baby-faced teenagers and early twenty-somethings, it's not hard to see where Bulli leans on for its experience.
Almost as if they were hemmed into starting positions because of the date on their birth certificate rather than skill sets, Dave Buchanan, Stuart Lowrie and Matthew Naylor stretch three wide across Bulli's back four.
Aged 30 or above, the trio are the senior citizens of a side where seven of the likely starting 11 for the Illawarra Premier League grand final could still be plying their trade in the under-age competition. And haven't they lifted their game to another level.
"Their youthful enthusiasm has meant week in, week out you want to give 110 per cent because you know that's what they're doing as opposed to some of the middle age blokes who think they've been there and done it all before and they just go through the motions," Lowrie said.
"I spent 14 years at Picton and I've come down to Bulli thinking we'd just run mid-table and see how we go. After a couple of weeks training with them I saw these guys had a lot of potential.
"They were enthusiastic, keen and they were willing to learn. It rubs off on yourself and you think you've got a lot to learn and a lot to give. It just creates that enthusiasm and that passion to do well."
Despite watching the possession-based, free-flowing football unfold in front of them all season, it hasn't been plain sailing for Bulli's stalwarts. They've had plenty nerve-jangling, leave-it-to-the-last-minute wins.
"I think a few of us older guys get a bit more stressed out when we're behind," Buchanan said. "But the young guys don't seem to care. It doesn't faze them and that's shown week in and week out."
Which is why Buchanan isn't worried about how Bulli's youngsters will handle the build-up to the big dance against Dapto Dandaloo, a side full of players who have been there and done that when it comes to winning trophies.
"We've obviously got a few older guys with experience being in grand finals, but the rest of the team are young and things don't really faze them too much," the skipper said.
To put Bulli's success on the shoulders of their young attacking players and rookie coach would be unfair.
While those in front of them have been the catalyst for their attacking verve, Buchanan, Lowrie and Naylor have been the backbone of a defence second only to Saturday's opponents all season.
And they've chipped in with a few goals too. Regular penalty-taker Naylor has added nine, including a brace in the major semi-final win over the Fury, while Buchanan, often used as an emergency option up front, has found the back of the net three times.
"We all stick together as a group and we all get along with each other - that's the main thing," Naylor said.
