HIS side is still sitting pretty at the top of the Blowes Clothing Cup ladder but Bathurst Bulldogs forward Mark Donnelly believes that's no reason to relax ahead of a tough treble of games to end the regular season.
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The first leg will be a trip to face the Forbes Platypi, a team who will play fierce given they are fighting desperately with the Dubbo Kangaroos in a battle for the last remaining finals position.
Bulldogs have maintained a six point break ahead of Orange Emus at the top of the table courtesy of a win over Orange City last week but, as the 57-5 scoreline might not suggest on paper, the Bathurst men weren't quite at their best.
Donnelly and his forwards are expecting a great contest against a well-regarded Forbes pack, and he knows the men wearing the numbers one through eight will be eager to lift their game.
"We had a couple of lapses last week where we let ourselves down a little bit but I think we'll build from that," he said.
"We're looking forward to these next three tough games to end the season and I feel like it's coming together for us.
"There were good passages of play against City but there's still things to learn from it."
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Bulldogs have matches against the Orange Emus and Cowra Eagles to round out the regular season.
Getting past the Platypi is step number one.
Bulldogs will be favoured to do so, even without the home field advantage, thanks to the 58-7 score they racked up against them less than a month ago.
Donnelly believes that's not a true reflection of the Platypi's capabilities.
"Forbes in Forbes is always one of the toughest trips of the season for us," he said.
"Last time we played them they were pretty short on numbers so we're looking forward to the tussle.
"They like to play a tight game out there. They like to use their forwards as much as they can and try and hit us up the middle so our defence has to be sharp up the centre.
"We're all about keeping the ball in hand while trying to play the fast-paced game we look for every week."
Bulldogs have only made a single change from the team which took down the Lions last week.
Adam Dwyer comes back into lock alongside Justin Mobbs while the entire back line remains the same.
Two bonus point wins out of their remaining three regular season matches will almost certainly be enough for the Bulldogs to guarantee a finish in first.