AS two-time defending premiers Bathurst Bulldogs hold the mantle as the best women's rugby union side in the Central West and come this Sunday, they are keen to show why.
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The Bulldogs will take on Bathurst rivals CSU - the outfit they beat in last season's Ferguson Cup grand final - in a curtain-raiser to the Super W match at Ashwood Park.
Though it is essentially a pre-season trial, playing on same afternoon as the NSW Waratahs and Melbourne Rebels is an opportunity the Bulldogs will relish.
"It is amazing. It gives the girls something to look up to and aspire to. It shows if they put in the hard yards, that if they want to go and do that, then they can," Bulldogs assistant coach/manager Marita Shoulders said.
"It's great that the whole day is about women's rugby."
"It's awesome that we get to play another Bathurst team in the curtain-raiser for sure, we get to showcase how strong [rugby] it is in Bathurst," Bulldogs back Ali Stanford added.
As for what the season proper will bring with it, it has Shoulders just as excited. Not only has her club welcomed an injection of new talent - including Australian 7s representative Jakiya Whitfield - but the standard of their Central West Rugby Union rivals is expected to be strong as well.
"Jakiya has joined us which is really good, just from training you can see she has got a lot of knowledge and experience and she's got a way of explaining that the girls understand. They are inspired by her," Shoulders said.
"But it's not just her, it's all the other girls we have. The girls from last year have gotten strong, Tiffany Holland is going to be awesome to watch. She's a Mudgee girl who's played touch, this will be her first year in rugby.
"There's the McIntosh sisters, Gaby Fahy - her fitness is amazing and once she's got her football head on, she's going to do really well.
"Everyone is keen to learn and keen to play, but all the other teams are stepping up too. Orange Emus are going to get motivation from Jacky [Lyden] and Em [McDonald] and their Brumbies selection, and the CSU girls, they've got some really good players too.
"Claire Woolmington has gone to Borneo for sevens, Ash Bridge has been playing with Southern as well."
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Stanford and flyhalf Kate Gullifer acknowledge there will be a certain amount of pressure that comes with chasing a third consecutive premiership, but the depth of talent at Bulldogs has them excited about the challenge.
"We have a lot of talent in our backs this year ... we have a lot of speedsters, so it's difficult to see where everyone is going to be put to be honest," Gullifer said.
"It's good to have the options obviously as well ... especially with the away games and availability, we've got a few hockey players, we've got a few netball players."
"We've got a lot of girls too in the team who are universal, I think I can name about five or our girls who can fill different positions," Stanford added.
"We are defending again but it's like let's go again, let's motor on and do it. It's not going to be easy, but we're looking forward to it."
The Bulldogs will take on CSU from 1.45pm at Ashwood Park, while the girls' Central West under 15s (11.30am) and under 17s (12.30pm) will face Central North in trials too.
The Super W match between the Waratahs and Rebels will kick-off at 3pm.