The Bombers have burst out of the blocks to begin 2013 winning their first five matches of the season despite injuries to key players Michael Hurley, Dustin Fletcher and the suspension of Paddy Ryder.
“When I first came down the boys had just won a grand final then lost one and then had not a bad year in 2002 but they had to trade out Chris Heffernan, Blake Carcella and Justin Blumfield which was a weird sort of time at the club,” Winderlich said.
“The group of guys we have got now, I am 28 and I am probably the fourth oldest on our list so I think we have a pretty good age demographic at the moment.
“The flexibility to have a really strong core group of 30-32 guys that you can pick from throughout the year I think that is what has enabled teams like Geelong and Hawthorn to be so strong.”
Jake Melksham and Tayte Pears are examples of what Winderlich talks about with both playing VFL on the weekend despite a strong performance against St. Kilda in the previous round.
Winderlich said it was important to ensure that everyone within the team plays their role when they are called upon.
“Up until about 18 months ago guys were getting games when they didn’t deserve it or their form didn’t warrant it,” he said.
“Now there is a really good understanding amongst the group that if you're not playing your role for the team and you're not playing to a certain level you are not going to play.”
The 28-year-old said he was excited about the club’s off-season draftees who are yet to make an appearance at AFL level.
“We haven’t seen any of the new boys play but after playing a month of VFL footy with the four or five guys we got I am really excited about those guys coming through.”
