Bendigo Bombers coach Hayden Skipworth is confident his side is capable of playing finals football again in season 2012.

Skipworth, in his debut season as coach, said the team had enjoyed a great pre-season and would be more than competitive this year.

“Our goal has always been to play finals football and there is no reason why we cant be successful this year,” Skipworth said.
 
 
“We’ve had a great pre-season and we have a really healthy list of players at the moment so if everything goes to plan, we should be able to field a really strong side for the season opener.”

Skipworth said the Essendon and Bendigo alignment was working well despite the obvious geographical challenges.
 
“I have a Melbourne-based group and a Bendigo-based group, as well as the Essendon players who don’t play, but everyone is working really well together.”
 
""I've really enjoyed watching the guys learn and develop over the pre-season and it's going to be exciting to see how far we can go this season.""
 
Bendigo lost five players during the off-season, with Sam Dunell, Shane Biggs, Tom Campbell, Tory Dickson and Jack Redpath all leaving, but Skipworth said a number of strong additions would be a positive for the side.
 
“We have added Rick Ladson, who is a Hawthorn premiership player and brings some great experience to our list,"" he said.
 
“Jordan Williams is another addition. He played a couple of years with Rick at Hawthorn and he was pretty keen to get back in the AFL system, so he is training pretty hard.
 
“The boys are gelling together well and our energy is now focused on preparation for Round One against Frankston.”