In a contest highlighted by some brilliant and brutal defence, the Bulldogs were trailing by five points with 90 seconds left when given the ball for a line-out on their 22 at Ashwood Park.

But they won that line-out, their forward pack took some tough carries - Marita Shoulders and Melissa Waterford leading by example - before the ball was spread wide to the backs.

The Roos defence had been brilliant throughout, but on the left edge a half gap opened and it was enough for Miller to exploit.

And while the match finished all square, both sets of players were upbeat post-match and delighted to be part of such a high-quality contest.

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The Dogs and Roos have been the benchmark in women's rugby and have dominated the competition in recent years.

Last year the Dogs were crowned premiers after sitting above the Roos on the ladder when the competition was cancelled due to COVID, and Dubbo captain Janalee Conroy said her side uses that as motivation.

"One hundred percent that hurt, but we're coming harder and better this year, we're going to make them earn it," she said.

"Straight up, second round, amazing game. We love that kind of footy I guess, the brutal, physical part of it."

The Bulldogs bench burst into celebration following Miller's late try and among them was 16-year-old winger Charlotte Graham.

"It was a bit stressful watching from the sideline, you want to get in there and have a go, but you're on the sideline so you can't do anything," she said.

One of the Panorama Platypi league talents to join Bulldogs this season, the game lived up to Graham's expectations.

She'd been told by the returning players just how formidable a rival the Dubbo Roos are.

"There was a lot of talk at training on Thursday about how tough they'd be and how tough their forward pack is and how quickly their backs can spread the ball," she said.

"It just like it was the ruck, then the winger's got it and it's gone, they spread the ball extremely quickly.

"It was a really good contest out there. I think it's a lot more fun when it's a close contest.

"I've come from being ion the front row for league so it's a bit different being on the wing, but I like it out there, that was fun."

The tone for the match was set in the opening minutes. Bulldogs received the ball from the kick-off and strung together 12 phases, but the Roos defence conceded only a handful of metres.

While the two sides had scored 108 points between them in round one, on Saturday every inch of ground was hard earned.

Even in the 12^th minute when the Roos created an overlap on the left edge, new Bulldogs' new recruit Tiana Anderson read play well enough to come up with a try saving tackle.

Roos resorted to using the boot of Madeline Piccolo to constantly kick in behind Bulldogs line - a tactic Conroy said may be deployed in more games this season.

"So our kicking game wasn't very strong over the last few years, but now we've got a strong kicker, we're going to use that to the best of our ability," she said.

"She's from Narromine, they don't have a side this season so we got a lot of their girls."

The first points of the contest came three minutes into the second half when Sarah Colman slotted a penalty goal for Bulldogs.

But four minutes later Dubbo hit the front when barnstorming number 8 Danielle Plummer charged over in the right corner.

When Piccolo added a penalty goal with just over 14 minutes remaining the Roos led 8-3 and looked a chance to draw first blood against the defending premiers.

But Bulldogs rallied and put the Roos' line under pressure until finally Miller found a way through the visitors' staunch defence.

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