WILL it be third time lucky for the Bathurst Bulldogs against the Orange Emus in tomorrow’s Central West Rugby Union qualifying semi-final or will the hoodoo continue?
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That’s the question the Bulldogs will face as they travel to Endeavour Oval hoping to get the better of the Emus, which they have failed to do in two attempts this year.
Everything changes in finals football, however, and with no more table to worry about, it can be a huge weight off a team’s shoulders.
A win tomorrow will set up a chance to play for a grand final spot against Orange City, so Bulldogs co-coach Scott Johnston says his team need to learn their lessons from the past two Emus meetings.
“We get that second chance thanks to finishing in the top three, so we go into this with nothing to lose,” he said.
“They’ve started well in both those games and we’ve always struggled to get ourselves back on the same terms, always behind the eight-ball.
“That will be the key to this match: if we can get that start.”
The Emus played consistent football across the 80 minutes to take a 45-28 victory when the sides met at Endeavour in the opening round of the season.
The Emus’ win never looked in doubt in the return match at Ashwood Park after the Bulldogs had to do too much defending, the Orange side taking the game 41-13.
Johnston said the Bulldogs will have to discover their creative spark if they are to overcome the green wall of defence in front of them.
“They’re very good defensively and that’s one thing we’ve got to deal with. We also didn’t get a lot of ball against them early on in the last match when we had to do all the defending. We need to work hard to turn that around,” he said.
“We’ve probably been a bit too predictable in attack, which hasn’t helped. We’ve got to make an effort to play at what’s in front of us and not always set plays.
“They’ve had the wood on us over the round games, but in finals it’s like a new competition and the pressure’s on them to win.”
The Bulldogs will be boosted by the return of players missing during last week’s 43-10 win over CSU.
"Peter Fitzsimmons and Mark Donnelly are back in the team for us this week. They're two class players. The team get a lot of enthusiasm from them and both are solid in defence," Johnston said.
Fitzsimmons returns from a one-game suspension while Donnelly is back from injury.
The first grade action at Endeavour Oval will get started at 3.15pm.
BATHURST BULLDOGS: 1 Aaron Booby, 2 Mark Donnelly, 3 Sean Fogarty, 4 Izaak Breen, 5 Lachlan Bull, 6 Jono Healey, 7 Adam Dwyer, 8 Peter Fitzsimmons, 9 Dylan Sinclair, 10 Steven Locke (c), 11 Kurt Weekes, 12 Josh Lees, 13 Tom Joseph, 14 Fali Liva, 15 Scott Johnston