Blowes beat: Dubbo Kangaroos to host a confident Orange City side in round six

That's the feeling around the Blowes Clothing Cup but the Dubbo Kangaroos certainly aren't throwing in the towel.

Bulldogs, the defending premiers, are unbeaten at the top of the ladder after the opening round of the competition while the Roos moved up to second last weekend following a 45-5 thrashing of Forbes.

Many within the Central West rugby community believe other sides are just playing for second but Roos coach Paul Elliott, while praising Bulldogs' quality, said his side is eager to the challenge of reeling in the competition juggernaut.

"Obviously Bathurst is the form side and the defending premiers and they've won five-from-five," he said.

"(Orange) Emus got pretty close in the first round but other than that they haven't been troubled.

"There's no obvious weakness in that side, they've got the best coach in the competition and they're leading the way.

"It's up to the rest of the competition to catch them and we're excited for that challenge but still taking it one week at a time and improving our game week-to-week."

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Elliott was full of praise for his side after the win at Forbes, with the improvements in defence and the way his side is using strike backs Calub Cook and Moa Kavaefiafi a real highlight.

On Saturday, the Roos return home to No. 1 Oval to take on a confident Orange City side.

City heads to Dubbo having scored their first Orange derby win over Emus since 2014 last weekend.

City prop Josh Tremain rated the win as one of the best of his career but added it wouldn't count for anything if the Lions didn't build on the result.

"We've made a bit of a statement now we just have to carry on with it," he said.

"It would be disappointing to let something like that slip. The feeling amongst the group is great. Everyone is putting in everyone is buying in to what we're doing.

"We've turned a corner."

The Roos scored a 32-24 win over City at Orange in round one.

Peter Fitzsimmons might laugh at the novel position he finds himself in as the leading try scorer in the Blowes Cup, but the Bathurst Bulldogs captain knows its because he's part of a seriously good forward pack.

Last Saturday the Bulldogs number 8 - a player closing in on 250 games for the club - experienced a career first as he crossed for four tries in the win over last season's minor premiers Cowra.

It took his tally to the season to 10 after five rounds and continued his record of scoring in every game so far in 2023.

"I knew I had six before that because I'd never really scored more than seven or eight in a season before that," Fitzsimmons said.

"It was like 'Wow, I've got six in the first round', then I scored another four so that's 10.

"I've never done that before, I've scored a couple of doubles over a long period of time, so it was pretty awesome to get that and at a place like Cowra where we've been pretty worried about going at times because of how good they've been over the last few years."

Fitzsimmons is now well clear on the list of leading try scorers, Dubbo Kangaroos outside centre Tim Beach the next best with five.

The barnstorming representative star will again be a key man when Bulldogs host Emus in a grand final rematch at Ashwood Park on Saturday.

Clashes between the two are always among the best of the season and Fitzsimmons has no doubt last weekend's result makes Emus even more dangerous.

"I'm definitely champing at the bit and especially at home. We had the test of Emus and Emus and now we have to defend it at home," Fitzsimmons said.

"It plays on my mind they're coming off a tough loss that would've meant a lot to them and they'll be wanting to come over here and prove a point."

There may be two thirds of the regular season still to play but this weekend's meeting between Cowra and Forbes could be crucial to the finals hopes of each side.

Cowra and Forbes sit fifth and sixth respectively on the Blowes Cup ladder, each with just the one win to their name.

As Orange City has already proven itself a vastly improved outfit this season and the Dubbo Kangaroos and Orange Emus showing quality, breaking into the top four is shaping as a challenge for the Eagles and Platypi.

Both sides are coming off 40-point defeats last weekend but the Eagles will start as favourites, having downed the Platypi 22-8 in the opening round of the season.

All matches on Saturday kick-off at 3.15pm.

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