Some others haven't been quite so lucky.

"I can remember there were a couple of times as a kid at Hat Head where there were fires, but nothing like the devastation we've seen over the last couple of months," Tolman said.

His mother-in-law wasn't quite so lucky in November when her house came under attack at Dondingalong, west of Kempsey.

Despite a number of worrying days that followed, she was eventually given the all-clear to return to her property.

"When the full brunt of it was on in early November she had to get evacuated and got out; it was quite harrowing for her," he said.

Fortunately, firefighters managed to save the house - something a handful of those in Nabiac and Taree weren't quite so blessed to have achieved.

"You can't really try to imagine what it's like until you're in it I suppose," Tolman said.

Tolman didn't have any indication how confronting things were until he saw it for himself.

"I was driving between Nabiac and Taree on the highway and it's just 20 kilometres of black stumps going through there," he said.

"You realise how close things get with those houses and how lucky you can be or how unlucky you can be."

After moving from the country more than a decade ago, the 31-year-old prop admitted he was easy to forget how different it is to live in the city.

"You're a world away in suburbia, but it's been great to see the level of support and everyone's doing their bit to help out," he said.

Tolman visited Hat Head and South West Rocks over Christmas when the Bulldogs were given two weeks off pre-season training.

"We caught up with some people who had lost properties up there and it's just devastating," he said.

"The South Coast are copping it now and getting a lot of the media, but the North Coast was the first to go off.

"We're not through the fire season yet as everyone knows, but with every bit of rain it helps things that little bit more."

The Bulldogs are likely to visit a number of fire-affected communities around the Mid-North Coast when they arrive in Port Macquarie for their pre-season trial against Canberra on February 29.

"You don't realise the devastation until you go out to these areas," Tolman said.

"I'm sure we'll get out to a couple of these areas and chat to families and people that have lost everything."

The Bulldogs donated $50,000 to bushfire and drought relief on January 7.

"Money is the best thing you can give anybody, but it's also about being there and showing our support so these people know they're not forgotten," Tolman said.

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