“They a pretty hard team to play, a very physical side,” Bulldogs coach Andrew George said.

“With our young fellas it will be a test for them.”

The Saints will pose a big challenge. They are two from two, and in both games have kicked in excess of 140 points.

The Bulldogs notched their first win of the season last week with an 89-point triumph over the Narrabri Eagles, and showed a lot more cohesiveness as a unit.

“Another game of footy with everyone together, we just gelled a bit more.

“The first game against Armidale there were a lot of new guys,” George said.

With so many of the side new to the game, he said the focus at training has been on the fundamentals.

That being said, George has been been impressed with the way the newcomers have picked up the game.

“Hayden Baker has impressed in the first two games. We’ve thrown him on the wing,” he said.

Remarking that he is “very skillful”, it might not be long though before they move him around and throw him in the middle.

“Jasper Thomas and Ryan Wheatland were our players players from last week,” George said.

“Also Liam Novelly. He rucked all game for us last week and did a good job.”

RELATED STORIES:

While they get John Woolaston back they will be without James Mack, which does leave George with a bit of a hole in defence to try and fill.

He noted that the Saints have usually got a bit of size about them and like to throw their weight around, and spoke about controlling the play as a way of negating that.

“They are a pretty physical side so if we can hold onto the ball a bit and control the game and control the pace we might frustrate them and get a few free kicks out of them which we have done before,” George said.

After leaking over 100 points against the Nomads, their defence was one of the Bulldogs biggest areas of improvement against the Eagles. They shut the Narrabri side out in the first quarter and only conceded four goals for the game.