Bathurst Bulldogs have discovered how their 2019 campaign will look, with the release of the Blowes Clothing Cup draw and their opening game is set to be a cracker, the Bulldogs travelling away to Dubbo to play the Kangaroos on April 6.
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The grand final rematch has been penned in for round four, with the blue and golds hosting Orange Emus on May 4.
However, the Bulldogs will play only seven home games in 2015, meaning they will have eight away games during the home and away season.
On the bright side, two of those seven home games will be against Orange Emus.
Bulldogs mentor Dean Oxley wants his side to take full advantage of the two home fixtures against the Emus.
“Having them at home twice gives us the advantage,” he said.
“We beat them for the first time in many years last season. It was a good win, but we were very fortunate to beat them in that game in Bathurst.”
Oxley also said it’ll be a tough start to the season, against a Dubbo side that he believes didn’t play up to its potential in 2018.
“It was a tough year for Dubbo last season and, in my opinion, they didn’t deliver to their potential,” he said.
“We lost to Dubbo away last season as well and I feel that lost us the minor premiership. It’ll be a big, first up game for us.There’s a long rivalry between the two clubs, but Dubbo tend to host us very well.
“It’s a must win game and it’ll be a massive setback if we can’t get the win first up. However, we do have Dubbo at home twice, which does assist us with the travel.”
After opening the season against the Kangaroos, Bathurst will host Orange City on April 13, before traveling away to face Forbes on April 27.
Following the grand final rematch against Emus, Bathurst will travel away to play Cowra on May 11, to complete the first round of competition, before playing the same five opponents two more times.
Bathurst will host Dubbo and Emus twice, while the Bulldogs will have to travel away twice to Cowra, Orange City and Forbes.
Oxley said it’s a “really exciting” time for rugby in the Central West region.
“To have this style of competition, I’m really glad for the change [to the two-tier system], just because it’s hard football each week. No where to hide,” he said.
The competition in 2019 will consist of the same six teams from 2018.
The competition will be played over 15 rounds, the opening one played on April 6 and the last one on July 27, before play-offs commence.
No games will be played on the weekend falling on April 20 and June 8.
It is expected that 2019’s play-offs format will use the same top four system used in 2018.
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