A RED hot bench, strong defence and sticking to their plans - those elements will be key for the Bathurst Bulldogs women as they chase a third consecutive premiership crown on Saturday.
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Since clinching their maiden title in 2017 and then being crowned the inaugural Ferguson Cup champions last season, there have been changes within Bulldogs' squad.
But it has helped give Bulldogs greater depth - their bench for Saturday's grand final against Orange Emus includes Central West representatives Kate Gullifer and Edwina Ulberg.
"We are so lucky that our bench is red hot, we know that any one of them can come on and pull something out of the bag," Bulldogs captain Mel Waterford said.
"We are really lucky with the depth in our squad. You can come off and the person who replaces them is just as good, if not better."
While Waterford knows the players beside her in blue and gold will bring plenty of talent and passion to the decider, she know it will be the same case for Emus.
The Emus were minor premiers and are one of just two sides to have beaten Bulldogs this season - winning their round nine clash 46-25 at Endeavour Oval.
The other meeting between the pair in round four Bulldogs won 26-19.
"I'm definitely not surprised we are playing them, Emus have been really good all year. They've also got the advantage that they've got a McDonald [Em] who can kick penalties," Waterford said.
"I think we are very evenly matched, they have a very good squad and so do we, I think it's going to be a very entertaining game.
"I think our worst game of the season was against them, we lost that game, so we know that you've got to be on your game against them. It's 1-all between us this season and it could go either way.
"I think it's going to come down to defence, we are both very good at attack, so it will come down to defence because having the ball in hand will make a big difference.
"It will be who can stick to their game plan, who can execute it and who comes out there and wants it most, who can blow it out of the park in that first five minutes."
Kick-off is 9.30am.
