THE Bathurst Bulldogs have run away with this season’s Central West Rugby Union club championship following a strong year across all four competitions.
Subscribe now for unlimited access.
$0/
(min cost $0)
or signup to continue reading
Three of the four Bulldogs sides finished the year as minor premiers, while the first grade outfit’s third place helped secure the championship ahead of Orange City.
After being held to third place in the championship last season, the Bulldogs returned to the top with a bang as their 264-point haul saw them finish 34 clear of the Lions.
The Bulldogs were so dominant in taking out the title that they could have lost all four grades against CSU in the last round and still finished on top.
Bulldogs president John Maynard said while there’s still plenty of work ahead with the finals on the horizon, the club championship is a great reward for the effort so far.
“The club trophy is important because everyone contributes towards it. We haven’t won it since 2011,” he said.
“I think changes to our coaching structure is what had the biggest impact this year ... but you can put all those systems in place but you still need the players there to turn up for it to work.
“A big congrats and thanks is needed to the coaches, players and support staff plus our supporters.”
Every single Bulldogs side in 2015 finished ahead of their position on the table a year earlier.
The Bulldogs colts, who will go into the finals undefeated, having let in an average of just five points a match, have led the way.
Both the second and third grade teams lost just two matches on their way to the minor premiership.
Second grade had their minor premiership wrapped up after the penultimate round, while third grade did enough to get home by a single point over the Dubbo Kangaroos.
The first grade team held on to third spot thanks to their last round win and will be the only side in action this weekend when they face the Orange Emus in the qualifying semi-final.
Maynard is rapt with the way the lower grades found their way to the top this year.
“Once we got into the season we knew that colts would be a real threat. Second grade was definitely going to be close with City, and having injured players was a concern, but they kept on going,” he said.
“Third grade was always up in the air until the last week. If Dubbo had scored a fourth try in their last match then they would have finished ahead of us on point difference.
“Now, thanks to their efforts, the boys get the week off.”
Maynard and the Bulldogs supporters will now focus on Saturday’s match with the Emus.
“We’ve got to win three really big games, at a minimum, to win the grand final,” he said.
“We haven’t beaten either Orange team this season, but now the competition starts all over again. Finals is a whole different kettle of fish.”