Dubbo Kangaroos are the only side to have bettered the Bathurst Bulldogs in the Blowes Clothing Cup’s third grade competition.
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That’s who stands in Bulldogs’ way in this weekend’s grand final at Endeavour Oval too.
Dubbo and Bathurst both finished the regular season with identical records – nine wins, a loss and a draw from 11 games.
But Roos – who beat Bulldogs 43-6 – earned the minor premiership through weight of bonus points. Roos beat Bathurst again in the major semi-final a fortnight ago then the latter side trumped Orange Emus 11-8 in last week’s preliminary final.
“There is a fair bit of work ahead of us,” Bulldogs coach Ash Goninan said.
“Their tendency is to play the game in the forwards and our game plan is to play a bit wider.”
In the women’s game Cowra Eagles square up with the Mudgee Wombats.
Cowra captain Michelle Miller is anticipating the conditions at Endeavour Oval to favour the Eagles in this Saturday’s Blowes Clothing Cup women’s rugby grand final against Mudgee.
Miller says a slow, muddy surface would give Cowra an advantage in what she’s expecting will be a battle of the two side’s forwards.
“We have a nice big forward pack and that should play to our advantage,” Miller said. “We’re confident but of course there’s nerves. We went through the season undefeated last year and lost out in the finals. I think our loss against Bathurst a couple of weeks a go was a good thing.”
VIDEO: See what Nick McGrath and Matt Findlay predict for Blowes Clothing Cup grand final day on Saturday:
Miller will share the leadership role with Betty Doolan, and is hoping to spur the younger players in the absence of Inge Visser. Miller suggested her and Doolan were coming to the end of their careers, and are using that as motivation to bring another piece of silverware to Cowra.
“Hopefully our backs can use the experience they’ve gained from Inge and do it for her. A lot of them are young and have come to the club and developed throughout the year,” she said. “It’d be great to bring another trophy home.
“The boys had a disappointing end to their season. They’re excited for us so it will mean a lot to the club for us to win a premiership.”
Mudgee formed this year and have impressed in its debut season under the mentorship of former Cowra Eagle Meg Eisenhaur.
Miller said it will be a challenge for her side and is expecting the result to be decided late in the second half.
“We couldn’t have picked a better side to play in the grand final,” Miller said.
The women’s game will begin proceedings on Saturday morning at Orange’s Endeavour Oval.
Kick-offs are 12pm and 9.10am, respectively.
Matt Findlay
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
Formerly a sports specialist, I'm based at Orange and shift between wide-spread range of subjects here and, often, across the entire Central West region of NSW as well. I have almost a decade of experience in the media and marketing industries both here in Australia and internationally, along with journalism I have experience in content strategy, brand development, and digital and social media. Along the way, I've been fortunate to win a handful of media awards and be nominated for several others too.
