THE Bathurst Bulldogs might currently occupy fifth place on the Central West Rugby Union ladder, but if they wish to remain in a position which would see them play finals football this season they must win tomorrow.

After beating Forbes at Ashwood Park last Saturday, the Bulldogs climbed into the top five. The team they leapfrogged is the Cowra Eagles outfit they will take on tomorrow.

The difference between the two is just three competition points, a gap the Eagles will make up if they better the Bulldogs in Cowra.

Given the Bulldogs have won just once this season when playing away from Ashwood Park, they will need to be near their best to retain their place in the five.

Helping their cause will be the return of two key players to Bulldogs’ forward pack.

“It’s going to be a difficult game at Cowra. She’s a hard game out there, we’ve got to lift a bit for it,” Bulldogs co-coach Shane Cantrill said.

“I’m not sure what Cowra are going to be like player wise, but for us we’ll have Chris Plunkett and Hayden Tidswell back from [NSW] Country.

“They [Cowra] played a very wide and physical game last time and I’d expect it would be similar this time. We’ve been making sure we’re ready to go, getting that defence right, especially around the ruck.”

Even though the Bulldogs were sitting in fifth spot at this stage last season, Cantrill believes this campaign has been more encouraging.

“The main difference is that last year we were on a bit of a downward trend. This season I feel like we’re improving week by week. Last year I feel that we started well and fell off towards the end,” he said.

Tomorrow also marks the long awaited return of Tom Joseph into the first grade squad, the talented centre having recovered from a hamstring injury that has kept him sidelined for a majority of the season to date.

The versatile Phil Tonkin moves from fullback to scrumhalf for the Eagles clash with Tim Collins to wear the number 15 jumper.

The match is set to kick-off at 3.15pm in Cowra tomorrow.

BATHURST BULLDOGS: 1 Chris Plunkett, 2 Sean Fogarty, 3 Andrew Donaldson, 4 Peter Fitzsimmons, 5 Alistair Fryer, 6 Mark Donnelley, 7 Ollie Crowe, 8 Hayden Tidswell, 9 Phil Tonkin, 10 Steve Locke, 11 Brodie Scott, 12 Jack Roberson, 13 Tom Joseph, 14 Josh Lees, 15 Tim Collins.