A SHAKE-UP to the pack is expected to go a long way to helping the Bulldogs match it with hosts Dubbo Kangaroos in tomorrow’s Central West Rugby Union fixture.
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Following a round one 36-14 loss to the Orange Emus last week at home, the Bulldogs will be making five changes to their starting line-up, four of which are in the forwards.
Chris Plunkett, Izaak Breen, Jono Healey and Peter Fitzsimmons will be injected into the blue and gold pack as the Bulldogs swap youth for experience.
The Bulldogs will expect a fired- up Roos side who will be having their opening match of the season after a bye last Saturday.
Co-coach Phil Newton said his young Bulldogs side coped well with a strong Emus team last week and believes the returning experienced heads will bolster the winning chances this time around.
“This game definitely won’t be any easier. Dubbo, by all reports, will be very strong this year. With the changes we’ve made this week we’ve got some strength and size back into the team,” he said.
“We were still pretty happy with how things went last week. We got some great positives to take out of that. We’ve got a game plan we want, it will just take some time to figure it out.
“Dubbo have always been a physical and big side. They play on the edges, are hard in the forwards and have pace in the backs. It’s pretty much everything you’re looking for in a first grade side.”
The Roos were the team responsible for knocking the Bulldogs out of last year’s finals series in heartbreaking fashion.
A last-minute penalty try in the minor semi-final gave Dubbo a 22-16 win.
The only change to the Bulldogs backs will be the sole Bathurst try-scorer from that match, Josh Lee, coming in for the absent Bart Bogart.
Newton said the scrum and tackling are the two key areas in which his Bulldogs will have to lift to be able to take it to the Roos.
While proud of the efforts the younger crop put in, he’s happy to welcome back his representative forwards who were left out of the first round run-on side due to a lack of training time.
“When you make that first step up into first grade, no matter how much you prepare for it, you’re always going to be in for a shock. That first 20 minutes can be make or break and it’s hard when you’re not used to the first grade challenge,” he said.
“Players like Chris Plunkett, Izaak Breen and Peter Fitzsimmons bring in Country experience. These changes were always going to happen, it was just a case of when. You can only leave players of that calibre out for so long.
“It’s going to be a big challenge, but we’ll be going up to Dubbo looking for a win in all grades.”
BATHURST BULLDOGS: 1 Chris Plunkett, 2 Mark Donnelly, 3 Sean Fogarty, 4 Izaak Breen, 5 Adam Dwyer (c), 6 Jono Healey, 7 Brendan Nelson, 8 Peter Fitzsimmons, 9 Dylan Sinclair, 10 Adam Miles, 11 Tyler Cook, 12 Sam Roberson, 13 Josh Lee, 14 Kurt Weekes, 15 Jack Roberson