Roos show plenty of physicality but fall short against defending premiers

However, in the end, the two-time defending premiers were good enough to prevail against the Dubbo Kangaroos.

The Bulldogs made the trip down the highway on Saturday to take on Dubbo at No.1 Oval, eventually running away with a 53-29 victory.

Whilst the scoreboard may flatter them, Bulldogs skipper Peter Fitzsimmons said they were made to work for the win against an under-strength Dubbo outfit.

"The physically from Dubbo (was great)," he said.

"We had to work through that and figure out a way to overcome that, they just stuck in.

"We were sort of worried going to the line because there were shots being put on but I think a bit of fitness in the end got us home.

"We've been trying to work towards playing really hard for that 60 minutes and then seeing what happens."

Without Tom Koerstz and several other experienced players, the likes of Max Rumble and Billy Whillock were given more responsibility, something they thrived in.

"I'm massively proud of the effort," Koerstz said.

"Unfortunately the scoreboard didn't go our way and I know the boys hurting massively but I am really proud of the effort.

"It's been a challenging week and that's no excuse, the boys really dug deep."

Bathurst opened the scoring through Brad Glasson before Whillock got the Roos on the board and with a try to Will Parnaby, the Roos were in front.

The Bulldogs hit back through Tom Felsch and Joe Nash following a yellow card to Parnaby to lead 24-14 at half time.

Both sides went back and forth with tries to start the second half before Jake Iakopo scored for Dubbo to tie the game up at 29-all.

From there, it was all about Bathurst as the Bulldogs scored four unanswered tries to seal the win.

Saturday's match marks the third consecutive week the Bulldogs have been tested and their skipper knows things won't be easy for them going forward.

"It's six weeks of solid football," he said.

"We spoke about turning up every week because you aren't going to get that low week or bye week.

"If you have a lapse in concentration or off game then you are behind in the points."

As for the Roos, there was plenty of pride in the jersey shown on Saturday but Koerstz isn't dwelling on the loss too much.

"We let Bulldogs probably get a bit of momentum with about 20 minutes to go and they are the sort of side who is very good at riding that wave when they get it," he said.

"If you can't chop it down then it makes it really hard.

"The promising thing is that we showed what we can do when we put things together and I think we'll be better for that loss, as weird as that sounds."