START their Ferguson Cup title defence with a win, extend their streak against Orange Emus - that will be the mission for the Bathurst Bulldogs this Saturday.
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The four-time defending premiers made a clean sweep of their games against Emus last season, posting 26-12, 55-22 and 45-5 results.
Bulldogs also got the better of the Orange side in a pre-season trial, running in 17 unanswered points before an injury saw play ended.
But while the Bathurst side has not lost to Emus since August 2020, star forward Mel Waterford knows the greens are a team that command respect.
"Emus is always a tough game, they've got quite a lot of players who have been around for awhile and they're lucky that they've got good support in their club with coaching," she said.
"But we've definitely got really good numbers this year, so we've got a good team lined up for round one."
Unlike recent seasons when it has been 10-on-10 when the sides have clashed, in 2022 the Ferguson Cup will feature full 15-a-side games.
It's a move that Waterford applauds.
"We're very excited about 15s, it's a good opportunity to get more girls on the field as well. The last couple of years a lot of teams have had good numbers, but that meant a lot of girls sat on the sideline with limited game time," she said.
"Now we've got a game time increase, we'll get more players on the field, which will hopefully keep more girls interested and turning up."
Saturday's season opener will be played at Orange's Endeavour Oval, with kick-off at 12.45pm.
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