Ahead of the Bulldogs' home clash against the third-placed Nomads on Saturday, Meagher has given his side seven or eight out of 10 based on their performance this season to date.

He nominated linking between the lines as the area that needs most improvement.

And unlike last year when Gunnedah struggled for players at times, this season they have a squad of 30-plus players.

That has given Meagher a problem a lot of country coaches would love to have: dropping players so their replacements play enough games to qualify for the finals.

He said: "So that doesn't help, when you get guys coming [into the team] late and you've gotta give them three games ... you've got to drop somebody, put somebody out, to make sure that we get enough people qualified for the finals. They tell me that was a downfall for our team last year."

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Meagher said the Bulldogs had been able to assemble at "pretty good side", when initially it was thought they would struggle. "We got some players back that said they weren't gonna play," he added.

Last Saturday Gunnedah beat the Kangaroos by 102 points in Tamworth, while Armidale had a 179-point win over the Suns in Moree.

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