Bathurst Bulldogs' 15-year-old Zoe Lee impresses in Ferguson Cup

On Saturday at Endeavour Oval Lee showed she will be a huge asset for the Bathurst Bulldogs this season as she played a big role in helping them to a 47-7 Ferguson Cup win over Orange Emus.

Not only did she have the confidence to steer Bulldogs in attack and muscle up in defence, but the Orange Vipers rugby league convert held her own against rival halfback Em McDonald - a player who has Super W experience.

"Zoe Lee had an outstanding game," Bulldogs skipper Mel Waterford said.

"She's come across to us from Vipers, it was straight in at halfback and she played outstanding.

"She got our three points for players' player, for someone that young to stand up against a player like Em McDonald and play well, she did fantastic.

"She just stood up, it was like she had been there for a long time. She was telling people where she wanted them, getting the ball out to Teagan [Miller], running forward pots off her, she did very well."

While Lee impressed, the key to Bulldogs' success in the competition has been their strength right across the park. It was the same on Saturday as they played in a 15-a-side format for the first time.

Miller crossed for a double, try-scoring machine Jacinta Windsor bagged a hat-trick as she again flourished in the back line, while league converts Sarah Colman and Poorsha McPhillamy also added to the score.

"Poorsha and Sarah played really well coming across from league and Lauren [Roels], she came on and made an impact and hit a few holes," Waterford said.

The Bulldogs skipper said the transition from 10-minute quarters to 30 minute halves suited her side, who worked hard on their fitness during the pre-season.

It reflected in that they restricted Emus to just a single try.

"Our defence was probably the best we've had in a long time, there was great communication, our clean-outs, our tackles, our rucks were really good. The young girls really stood up and had a great crack at it," she said.

"The girls really enjoyed the two 30-minute halves, it actually gives you time to get a bit of structure together, to be patient and work on a bit of a game plan.

"We've been really lucky, the club as a whole, we train as one on a Tuesday and we've had a very long pre-season as we do a lot of fitness in our drills. The girls have been exposed to a lot of good coaching and we also had that summer touch comp which kept everyone keen and fit."

While Bulldogs emerged as convincing winners, Waterford said the score line was not really indicative of the challenge Emus presented. She thinks they will be a threat in 2022.

"It was a really good game, it's always physical against Emus. They're a big side and they always bring a tough game, so it was a good first round hit-out for us," she said.

"It's great to see Em [McDonald] back playing, she definitely brought something to Emus, and they had some girls on debut who played really well. They've got a lot of their older girls back and they've done some good recruiting, so they're going to be a tough opposition."