RUGBY UNION
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THE Bathurst Bulldogs will resume their Central West Rugby Union campaign tomorrow when they host long-time rivals but currently struggling Orange Emus at Ashwood Park.
One of the players looking to make his mark on the Emus pack will be blindside breakaway Chris De Young, a player who came into first grade during last year’s transitional season for the Bulldogs.
He has since developed into one of the mainstays of what is a formidable forward pack.
A rugby league convert when he first played with Bulldogs in 2009, De Young has cemented his position in the starting side thanks to his hard hitting and aggression around the ruck.
“I used to play under 18s for Panthers, but had a few mates playing rugby and they convinced me to come across and I haven’t really looked back,” he said.
“I played in the second row in league and from there to breakaway in union is a relatively simple change. I thought at first it would be difficult to pick it up, but it has been easy enough to adapt. At the end of it all both positions are pretty simple – run the ball hard and tackle hard.
“It came as a pretty big surprise when I was asked to play first grade last year though and to be there this year too is pretty daunting given some of the other guys there, especially the likes of Adam Dwyer.”
Playing in what can be the most physically taxing position on the field has its bad points as De Young readily admits, but the fact that the Bulldogs have improved so significantly on last year’s performance eases the pain that invariably comes from playing as a flanker.
“It does take its toll, every Sunday morning the body is in pain. I’m not the biggest bloke on the field and you come up against some pretty big packs from the other sides,” he said.
“But I try and bring plenty of aggression to the field whenever I run out there.
“The team has gelled really well right from the pre-season. We are a close group and though we have lost a few games here and there, we know that all those results are stepping stones and we know that no matter how well we’re going, there are always going to be tough matches and we need to learn from all of them.
“Emus aren’t going particularly well if you look at wins and losses, but they have actually been very competitive with everyone they’ve played just about.
“They have some experience in their pack and against teams like this you can’t afford to lose your composure trying to put points on them.”
Bulldogs coach James Horsburgh is wary of the threat Emus pose, particularly with the long weekend break under their belt after building up a deflating streak of matches where they appeared poised to win only to find a way to lose.
“They [Emus] have really tested just about every side they’ve met and from what I’ve seen and read, they just can’t finish things off,” he said.
“The long weekend off, a bit of a break – that will do them good because you really can get into a habit when things aren’t going well of just finding a new way to lose.”
The Bulldogs side for tomorrow’s match will remain largely unchanged with the exception of halfback Tom Hollis, who is unavailable for the next five weeks.
His place will be taken by Jordan Ward.
Kick-off is at 3.15pm tomorrow.
BATHURST BULLDOGS: 1 Chris Plunkett, 2 Sean Fogarty, 3 Andrew Donaldson, 4 Shaun Healey, 5 Mitch Harding, 6 Chris De Young, 7 Adam Dwyer, 8 Peter Fitzsimmons, 9 Jordan Ward, 10 Steve Locke, 11 Tim Collins, 12 Josh Lee, 13 Bart Bogart, 14 Ben Sheppeard, 15 Phil Tonkin.