A LEOPARD might not change his spots, but it seems a dog can change his colours.
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On Saturday when the Red Dog Rugby Club finally got the better of the Bathurst Bulldogs in a match at the annual Building Durability Bathurst Rugby 10s tournament, you could be forgiven if you did a double take.
Red Dog president Mickey Palmer had smartly recruited some of Bathurst Bulldogs' big names - players who have represented Central West such Peter Fitzsimmons, Joel Harper and Harry Webber - to wear the blue and red instead of the blue and yellow.
And those Bulldogs turned Red Dogs certainly combined well with their Sydney-based team-mates at Ashwood Park.
They made it to the plate final and while suffering a narrow 17-12 loss in that decider to Newcastle Sea Men, earlier in the day Red Dogs posted a 22-0 win over their nemesis Bathurst Bulldogs.
Inside the opening minute of the battle of the dogs, the Red Dogs had a try.
And it was two of their star recruits who combined for it, Fitzsimmons throwing a cut-out pass to Webber who stormed down the left flank to score.
Fitzsimmons crossed himself four minutes later - fending away those he normally calls club-mates to score in the right corner following an attacking scrum feed. That made it 12-0 at the break.
In the second half it was more of the same as the Red Dogs continued to dominate possession. When they iced their win 90 seconds from time it was via a Harper try.
Meanwhile the Red Dog Rugby Club women's side took out the plate final of their competition, scoring a try in each half for a 10-0 win over the Wollongong Flamingos.
