BATHURST Bulldogs are one win away from the perfect season but standing in their way of that achievement in Saturday’s Central West Rugby Union colts grand final is a CSU team determined to spoil the party.
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The CSU team might have enjoyed a super post-season run – which has carried them from fifth place at the end of the regular season right through to the grand final – but the undefeated Bulldogs have had their measure so far this year.
Bulldogs co-coach Jordan Bull said his minor premiers have to maintain their focus they’ve shown throughout this finals series if their to keep that stat intact after Saturday’s match at Endeavour Oval.
“We’re really going to have to be on our game. CSU have had three tough wins to get to the final and they’ve really hit their form,” he said.
“They’ve had close games against Dubbo and [Orange] City, winning both at the end so we’ve got to be at our best.”
However, Bull is confident his side have what it takes to keep the CSU side at bay once again.
“There's a lot of drive and determination in this team and our defence has been one of our strong points all season,” he said.
“To our guys’ credit we’ve been training well over the last couple of weeks. The boys have worked hard but we’ll just have to wait and see what happens on the weekend.”
Bulldogs qualified for the grand final thanks to a 15-0 win over the Mudgee Wombats in the major semi-final.
If the matches between Bulldogs and CSU this season are an indication of what’s to come in the decider then spectators could be in for a treat.
CSU have been the team who have come closest to handing the Bulldogs a loss this season.
Bulldogs produced some strong second half rugby to win the opening clash in May 43-12 while a late penalty allowed the blue and gold to keep their streak going in the next derby meeting, this time a much closer 16-13 final round victory.
“Both games have been very tough. In the first game we got a couple of late tries so I don’t think that score really reflects how close the game actually was,” Bull said.
“That last game we had against them in the final round came down to a penalty at the end for us to win so I’m expecting another tough game here.
“CSU would have to be the toughest team we could face out of those who made the finals.
“I said to the boys it doesn’t matter who we play as long as we turn up and play our best football.”
Bulldogs took out last year’s grand final with 16-8 over the Dubbo Kangaroos, making up for a defeat in the previous year’s decider to City.
Saturday’s match gets underway at Endeavour Oval from 10.30am.
