IT is a well-worn cliche but getting through 80 minutes of their best football could be the difference between winning and losing when the Bathurst Bulldogs face the arduous task of taking on Dubbo Kangaroos tomorrow at Ashwood Park.

The defending Central West Rugby Union premiers are one from two in the new season after an easy opening round win over Narromine, before being brought back to earth by fellow heavyweights Orange City last week.

Bulldogs go into the game with a one-from-two record themselves but they know that a performance like the one which saw them beat Parkes 43-17 last Saturday won’t be good enough against ’Roos.

“It is probably too early at the moment to know where everyone stands, and in particular to know where we stand in relation to those teams that have dominated in the last few years like Dubbo and the two Orange sides,” Bathurst prop Chris Plunkett said.

“We’re still working each other out, we’re not the same side we were last year. 

“We started great against Parkes and scored two tries straight up, but we took the foot off the throat and suddenly they were in front of us. Thankfully we played a very good 40 minutes in the second half and didn’t let up.

“Against Emus we were patchy as well. We can’t afford that against Dubbo.”

While he paid homage to the quality of the opposition ahead of tomorrow’s game, Plunkett says that there may be one or two areas that his side can exploit once they hit the field. By no means did he suggest that Dubbo will lack motivation, but he did point to the possibility that they have less to prove having won last year’s title, which could make them a less daunting proposition.

“I know that in the past I’ve been part of teams here at Bulldogs that have won and it is very hard to maintain that same level of hunger the next season,” he said.

“Maybe coming off a grand final win last year they won’t have that same level of desire. It is tough.

“I think on the field in terms of their play, they are a team renowned for having such a strong pack. They have great rolling mauls that are very difficult to defend against.

“But they’ve lost Peter Nau from that pack, and he was the bus driver of that maul. They’ve picked up Josh Tremain from Orange City who is a great player but it is hard to cover someone as good as Peter, so maybe that’s an area we can look at.”

Plunkett himself has stepped back from representative football this year, and the former NSW Country front-rower admits that it has had an effect on his football, but one that he hopes won’t last too long.

“I’ve been okay I think, but I’m not as fit as I was going into last season. I didn’t have the off-season and build up that I’ve had going into the last couple of years,” he said.

“I’m still basically playing the sort of game I want to but without the same level of fitness. I think it is a bit of an issue for the whole team at the moment and one of the reasons that we haven’t been playing out a full 80 minutes so far.”

Bulldogs take on ’Roos from 3.15pm tomorrow.

BATHURST BULLDOGS: 1 Chris Plunkett, 2 Mark Donnelley, 3 Sean Fogarty, 4 Izaak Breen, 5 Lachlan Bull, 6 Alistair Fryer, 7 Peter Fitzsimmons, 8 Adam Dwyer, 9 Tom Hollis, 10 Steven Locke (c), 11 Josh Lees, 12 Tom Joseph, 13 Scott Johnston, 14 Justin Mobbs, 15 Phil Tonkin