Round nine of the Greater Bank AFL North West competition features local side Gunnedah and District AFC Bulldogs tackle the undefeated New England Nomads at their home ground Wolseley Oval on Saturday afternoon.
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The two sides met in round one this season and the Bulldogs were given a 59-point thrashing at Armidale. But in chalking up four consecutive victories, three of which were over 100 points, the Bulldogs are bristling with confidence heading into the weekend’s match.
The Nomads are looking ominous again this season, but Bulldogs coach Greg Piggott believes his side has the ability to seriously challenge the reigning premiers if they stick to their structures and eliminate the ability of the Nomads run and carry.
“They run and carry out of defence into attack better than anyone, so it’ll be good test to see if we can stop that,” Piggott said.
“If we can, it’ll restrict their scoring opportunities and hopefully on the back of that we keep creating our own (opportunities) like we have in recent weeks.”
While the Bulldogs made considerable strides in the competition last season and the beginning of this year, Piggott is challenging his side against the yard stick of the competition in the Nomads.
“It’ll be a good gauge for us to see how we really are going,” he said.
“They’re the measuring stick and we haven’t played our best against them in the past and early this season, so that’s the challenge going forward.”
Should the Bulldogs be successful this weekend, they could leap frog the Nomads into first place.