Injury and other commitments, not to mention the uncertainty around the COVID-19 situation, meant Weal didn't commit to rugby until later in the season.

And the club's second grade side is no doubt glad he did.

Weal scored the winning try for the Bulldogs in Saturday's Blowes Clothing Cup second grade decider at Wade Park, helping the Bathurst club to a 17-14 premiership victory and a sweep of its grand final match-ups against Roos as well.

Bathurst's second grade triumph followed wins in third grade and the women's against Roos.

The two proud clubs' second grade tussle was one of the best, too.

Both clubs' defences proved stoic, and Weal's burrowing effort late in the second half to give Bathurst a three-point lead was followed up by some tremendous last-ditch defence from the blue and golds.

After helping Bathurst to a break-through first grade premiership in 2019, he was again chuffed to be in the winners' circle on grand final day in 2020.

"I wasn't going to play in March regardless of the situation," Weal said looking back at when COVID-19 swept through the nation earlier in the year, putting community sport in jeopardy.

"It's been good to have a couple of runs though, and this group is a relatively young one, so it's been good to help them along."

His decisive try in the 65^th minute, he says, came with a touch of luck.

"I got whacked by one of their boys and it helped me over a bit," he said.

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Roos mentor Paul Elliot cut a dejected figure post-game, but had nothing but praise for his entire group.

"We're shattered with the way it ended but we're really proud of the boys," he said.

Bathurst opened the scoring with a covered try to Ben Sheppeard, but that was soon countered when Roos half Chris Selling scored Dubbo's first five-pointer and slotted the conversion, too, tying things up 7-all after about seven minuntes.

The two sides then went end-to-end for the bulk of the first half but it wasn't until Kurt Weekes, crowned the player of the game post-match, nailed a penalty goal right on the break that points were added to the scoreboard, and the Bulldogs enjoyed a three-point advantage heading into the sheds.

Roos struck just after the break though, with Jacob Phillips diving over after the Dubbo scrum flexed its muscle close to the line.

Selling's boot added the extras and Roos led 14-10.

It was a lead they had for a good 20 minutes until thanks to some outstanding defence.

Roos defended brilliantly for the bulk of the final stanza, keeping the Dogs' out and at one stage pulling Brenton Gibson up centimetres from the try-line.

The Dogs had another real chance to snatch back the lead on 65 minutes following a scintillating Toby Farraway run down the western touchline that, at one point, resulted in two Roos player comically colliding to give the runaway Dogs' winger clean passage down the flank.

That chance, too, though evaporated on the back of an error but two minutes later another Bathurst surge was finished off by gun replacement Weal, the old Blue Bull burrowing his way over.

Weekes' conversion lifted Bathurst to a 17-14 lead and despite a final flurry from Roos, the Dogs line held firm to come away with the premiership.