Their coach and core group of players had all returned from the 2019 season and they'd brought up some exciting junior talent for the A grade competition.

But then the coronavirus put their ambitions on hold.

Bringing together a full squad early in the off-season can be a difficult task for some clubs but the Bulldogs top grade side had that organised quickly, and that had them excited to get their training underway.

Coach Anita van Dartel said it was a strange feeling to see all netball grind to a halt in the midst of the representative season.

"We started with Regional League but after the second round of that everything just stopped," she said.

"I've had 11 players together for the first time. I've struggled with numbers for the last two years so I was really excited.

"We'd brought in a few new players, and we'd be able to field a full team each week. Hopefully we'll be able to get going on the 25^th of July."

That date is the one currently being proposed as a return date for netball across NSW but nothing has been confirmed yet by the governing body.

Having a full squad brought together so early was a positive sign for a Bulldogs side who came up just short in their bid to reach the 2019 grand final.

With a little practice and some work on cohesion the team looked every chance of bringing it to defending champions Collegians Mystified and grand finalists Panthers in 2020.

Van Dartel said the right pieces are there to make another competitive A grade season eventuate for the club.

Much of the 2019 group are back and new additions were set to help in a big way.

"We've got a younger player coming on board and I like to assign them a mentor so they learn the right spirit of the game," she said.

"Learning off those with good habits and a good attitude means a lot. Kate Burns is probably my star player who has always been one of the cleanest players who always plays in the spirit of the game. It a bonus every year for us that she is able to come back.

"Alisha Glasgow is another player who is great at guiding the younger girls."

"I've got another girl that's come up from our A reserve side, and she's a basketballer with a lot of height, so I was looking forward to that. She's developed her skills a lot and thought it would be great to try and make the step up."

Bulldogs had an up and down 2019 but did enough to earn fourth spot on the table, and continued their trend of improvement to win the minor semi-final.

They held the lead in their preliminary final meeting with Collegians but eventual were bested by 10 points against the eventual premiers.