Speed kills.
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It's an expression you could have uttered all morning on Saturday as the Bathurst Bulldogs' backs blazed past Emus 42-12 on their way to a Westfund Ferguson Cup grand final berth.
Led by a four-try effort from the lightning fast Mardi Watts, the Bulldogs took advantage of the nine-a-side format, wreaking havoc down the Emus' edges and breaking the girls in green open from start to finish.
The Dogs blasted out of the blocks with back-to-back tries and went about their work until the final quarter when the Emus wrestled back momentum, bagging a pair of late tries through Mereoni and Milika Tuinakauvadra.
Winning coach Tuma Aisake weighed in on the result after the match, attributing the outcome largely to the desperation his girls showed in a do-or-die scenario.
"I think the girls realised it's this or we're gone," Aisake said.
"They listened at training and that made a big difference today. We had a game-plan that we do at training and everyone was on the same page today.
"We knew where we needed to stand and where we needed to run."
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Mardi Watts didn't plan to play with the Bulldogs in 2020 but COVID-19 put her Sydney career on hold and boy oh boy are her teammates glad it did.
"She's a freak," he said.
"She beat the boys in a sprint from the 22 to the try line at training... she's very good."
Competition favourites Dubbo put Forbes to the sword in the second Wade Park fixture, meaning it will be Dogs-Roos decider.
And while the ladder-leaders will be short-priced favourites to take out the trophy, Aisake is excited for the challenge.
"We're going to have a crack with them next week," he said.
"We still have a lot of work to do and we need to do some more things right.
"Our forwards need to get the ball more and play hard up the middle... if the forwards win, the backs win."
A disappointed but proud Alistair Miller reflected on the loss and spoke about the sheer quality of the side they went up against.
"It's alway a pleasure playing Bathurst... they're a great team," Miller said.
"We really enjoy it, there's always a good feeling there. They did everything slightly better than we did today.
"They spun the ball wide, they were more physical, they out-enthused us at the breakdown and their clean outs were amazing. We left our run a little too late."
It wasn't the way Miller wanted the season to end but after an injury-riddled season that saw a host of key players spend lengthy stretches on the sideline, he's happy with the way his girls battled.
"I'm proud of the girls, they really bonded well together this year," he said.
"It's been a pleasure, it would have been nice to have a crack at the grand final.
"Dubbo's going to be hard to beat but the way Bathurst played today, they could do anything. They were really good."