The Roos' stop-start Blowes Clothing Cup campaign continued last weekend as they were beaten by Bathurst Bulldogs after a performance again riddled with ill-discipline.

The ability to correct that and maintain consistency across 80 minutes against the ladder-leading Emus will likely decide Saturday's meeting at No. 1 Oval and prove to the Roos if they're a genuine finals contender.

"It's the biggest of the season so far," stand-in captain Jake Styles said.

"We'll find out what the team's capable of. The competition this year is really tight and everyone has won and lost and beaten a team that's beaten another team.

"It's all over the place so this can show how we're going to go."

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The nature of this year's competition was on show last weekend as Emus suffered something of a shock loss at Forbes.

The Roos went down 28-19 at Bathurst, leaving them without back-to-back victories and without a win away from home this season.

Three Roos players were shown yellow cards at different times in the match and the bulk of the Bulldogs' points came during the minutes when the visitors were a man down.

"They scored three tries when we had a bloke in the bin so you take that away and we win and win pretty comfortably," Styles said.

"It is very frustrating but hopefully it really gets through to the players at training this week. We've really nailed down on it this week harder than we have in the past so hopefully we can put that behind us."

If the Roos are unable to correct their ongoing battle with officials it could allow the Emus' attacking talents to thrive and run up a score on Saturday.

Emus have passed 30 points in four of their seven matches this season and Styles knows his side has got to match the intensity of the Orange side if they are to claim what could be a crucial win.

"They're going to be relentless and we've got to go out and be there from the get-go otherwise it will be a long game," he said, before looking at his side's areas of focus.

"Our discipline and our willingness to not give up. We've got to be willing to keep going, even if we're in front, we've got to be relentless."

The casualty list at the Roos continues to get longer with impressive youngster Josh Bass in serious doubt for Saturday's game after a rolled ankle at Bathurst while Will Michell is expected to play despite a shoulder complaint.

Styles said his side has been "thrashed by injuries" this year and it's been one of the major reasons the side has failed to feature the same starting lineup in two successive games.

Styles has been one of the many players to play multiple positions so far this season and he could be set for a longer stint at flyhalf now after playing much of the season at fullback.

"I like having to control the game," Styles said ahead of more time in the No. 10.

"You make those snap decisions and manage the game.

"They (Emus) are a pretty well-structed team so if we get those opportunities we've got to take them straight away."

Kick-off at No. 1 Oval on Saturday is at 3.15pm.

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