HAPPY attack Dogs and starving Kangaroos - that was the tale of Saturday's Blowes Cup clash as Bathurst posted a 45-25 win over Dubbo.
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The Bathurst Bulldogs controlled possession for much of the round 12 match at Ashwood Park and when they had the ball they used it well.
Seven tries from as many players helped Bulldogs to a bonus point win which keeps them in the hunt for the minor premiership.
"Our boys played fast-tempo, played good footy and played positive. You could see that in how they're linking with each other and how they're communicating with each other and getting around each other," Bulldogs co-coach Dean Oxley said.
"Our scrum was good, our general attack was good, our ruck was good. When the boys are positive and happy they tend to play good footy."
The Kangaroos were also feeling positive prior to kick-off, but as Bulldogs starved them of possession they did not get the chance to showcase their brand of attack until it was too late.
Bulldogs led 26-8 at half-time and with just over an hour of play gone, the margin stood at 30 points.
"It was physical but we just couldn't get a roll on. You could see in the second half when we had some possession we scored some points, but in the first half we had a lot of effort, but just nothing went our way," Roos skipper Shaun McHugh said.
"We came here with a lot of hope and enthusiasm, our training was fantastic, but geeze we just got blown off the park in that first 20 and that was it wasn't it?"
While the score line might not reflect it, the Roos made a mountain of tackles inside their own 22 as they tried to limit the damage the Bulldogs inflicted.
Centre Tim Beach, joined number 8 McHugh and lock Will Michell in pilfering more than once.
McHugh was proud of that - he just wishes he had more attacking moments to be proud of as well.
"The effort was fantastic, if we had the ball bounce our way a little bit we would've been right, but anyway, that's footy," he said.
"We know we've got the ammunition, we know we can score. But gee it's frustrating to come down here and have 40 points scored on you."
Bulldogs set the tone from the kick-off when quickly forcing a turnover. Four penalties and five minutes later the hosts were in for the opening try, Phil Tonkin slicing between two defenders following a scrum.
After receiving the kick-off it was again attack mode as Bulldogs carried the ball some 50 metres before being tackled. Fullback Joe Nash and second rower Peter Fitzsimmons combined particularly well.
It took 12 minutes for the Roos to handle the ball inside Bulldogs' 22 and while it resulted in a Calub Cook penalty goal, the hosts responded. Responded and then some.
A bullocking Adam Plummer run after a scrum put Bulldogs in good position before a brilliant Kurt Weekes cut-out ball had Nash over.
Three minutes later Bulldogs were in again as Tom Felsch made good yards up the centre before the ball was spread wide to winger Ben Sheppeard.
To rub further salt into the wound, Roos five-eighth Joss Bass was shown a yellow card.
Down 21-3 the Roos were in trouble and while class fullback Cook scored off the back of a brilliant 30 metre run, Bulldogs were in again before the break it make it 26-8.
Tries to Zac Taylor and Bryce Rue early in the second half further pushed the margin out.
Even though Dubbo prop Sam Hunt managed to pull back some of that advantage, Bulldogs centre Hunter Davis killed off any hope of a comeback as nice palm saw him over in the left corner.
"That's the sort of stuff we're trying to get the boys to believe in now," Oxley said of the attacking rugby Bulldogs produced.
"I said to co-coach Chris Plunkett that we don't have to say much now because they know what they're doing and how it works and what they have to do to produce points."
While the win was Bulldogs', the final four minutes of the contest saw the Roos rally and earn a bonus point which may prove valuable in seeing them qualify for finals.
A great ball from scrumhalf Hamish Gordon put McHugh over and on the final play of the match, a brilliant blindside dash from Bass put the score at 45-25.
"There was fight there, we fought for 80 minutes, we scored in the 80th minute to get the bonus point," McHugh said.
"Hopefully we won't need it, but it might be that we look back on today and be proud of that effort.
"There is plenty of fight still left in us, we'll build on that, but that first 20 minutes, you can play like that in first grade footy."
BATHURST BULLDOGS 45 (Phil Tonkin, Joe Nash, Jerry Ovenden, Ben Sheppeard, Zac Taylor, Bryce Rue, Hunter Davis tries; Kurt Weekes 5 conversions) defeated DUBBO KANGAROOS 25 (Sam Hunt, Calub Cook, Shaun McHugh, Josh Bass tries; Josh Bass conversion; Calub Cook penalty)
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