HE never got to realise his own dream of wearing Western Division colours, so even though the women in green and white were his rivals on Saturday Canterbury coach Luke Goodwin watched them with pride.
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Just as he was scrutinising what his Bulldogs squad did as they prepare for the NSW Women's Premiership, he also cast his eye over the talent within Western's ranks during their trial match at Pride Park.
He was impressed with what Bathurst's Teagan Miller did in her Western debut as she started at centre and also spent time in the second row.
Given Goodwin spent time on the wing, at five-eighth and fullback during a a career which saw him play professionally in Australia and England, he appreciates versatility.
The kicking game of Western five-eighth Tori Canham and the hard yards Hayley Andrews earned also gave Goodwin a smile, while he labelled Vipers' Kiara Sullivan 'outstanding'.
They reminded him of why representing Western was something he so badly wanted to do.
"There was some quality out there and we know that. I grew up in the bush so I know what it's like," Goodwin said.
"As a kid growing up, that's all I ever wanted to do, play Western Division and make Group 11. Back in the day there was no Western Division for young kids, you just used to play Group 11 or Group 10.
"I never got to play for Western, I did Year 10 at Red Bend then I left the country. So I never got to play, but some of my best mates did growing up and my Dad played for Western.
"So to see the green and white today was pretty good. It means a lot for me to come back."
The trial match against Western was the first time a senior Bulldogs women's team had played in two years.
It's a team Goodwin is immensely proud to coach, having played 15 games as a Bulldog himself between 1993-94.
"In the 2021 season and 2022 season the club decided they'd send the NSW Cup side and the Harvey Norman women's side to Mounties," he said.
"We haven't been around for two years, this is our first game, it has taken a lot of planning, a lot of recruiting and a lot of hard work to get us back to where we are today. We've got a real good female pathway now.
As expected the superior fitness of the Bulldogs squad was evident in the trial match as they posted an 11 tries to one victory over Western.
The first of their tries was scored by a member of St Pat's 2022 Group 10 premiership winning league tag side, Cheynoah Merchant.
They got off the line well in defence to deny Western easy metres, making some crunching ball-and-all tackles, while their support play in attack was impressive too.
Naturally Goodwin saw areas that he wants improved, but as the Bulldogs build towards their NSW Women's Premiership return he was in the main pleased.
"The first 20 it looked a bit tough, we didn't make a change in that first 20 because we train to go to dark places in games. It sounds funny, but we train for that," he said.
"We only let one try in, I was impressed with our D and we wanted to work on our shape in attack and we did that. Even though the execution was poor at times I loved the shape, we were there ready to play both sides.
"Passing let us down at times, it was just a bit of fatigue and the heat didn't help."
The next assignment for Goodwin's side will be a trial against Cronulla.
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