Despite a 22 point loss to Collingwood in the NAB Cup Grand Final, midfielder David Zaharakis is confident the Bombers can mix it with the competition’s best sides in 2011.

Zaharakis said the performance on Friday night was an indication of how much the players had improved over the summer months.

“It was a good test, I think it shows we’re not that far off, we’ve had a good pre-season and we’ve improved a lot so hopefully we can come out round one against the Doggies and really have a good game” he told BomberTV after the match.

“The Magpies are the best team in the competition and they won the premiership last year and now the pre-season competition as well.”

At one stage, the Magpies led by more than five goals and looked like they would run away with the match.

But Zaharakis said the Bombers ability to fight back is a sign the team has matured.

“It was a bit disappointing, in the first half we didn’t play the way we want to and although we came back in the second half it wasn’t enough to get over the line but now we focus on round one,” he said.

“We just want to keep improving, keep developing and then hopefully get more wins than last year.”

Ruckman David Hille made an impressive comeback to football after the Bombers big man spent most of the summer recovering from a knee injury.

“He looked really good, took a few nice marks, kicked a couple of goals and that was a positive sign and hopefully he’s ready for round one,” Zaharakis said