FOLLOWING a 62-20 win over Narrabri at home on Sunday, Gunnedah is now aiming up to the undefeated Bears.
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Coach Shane Rampling has had the boys focusing on defence since North Tamworth put 42 points on them in round five.
“Our defence has come a long way and we were pretty well structured today,” Rampling said.
“We know we can score tries and were building pressure out there.”
Matt Brady was superb at first receiver and took on the line well.
The halfback broke the line several times himself to pick up three as well as having a hand in a swag of others.
One of those players was his captain Trent Hilton who was one of three players to bag a double.
Hilton has been leading the way in the Bulldogs’ pack this season and was a force in the middle of a heavy Kitchener Park.
The prop doesn’t want to get ahead of himself but wants the team to focus on getting a home semi.
Whoever gets that second spot will not only get a home semi but also be on the other side of the draw to the undefeated North Tamworth.
“We haven’t had a semi here for probably 15 years,” Hilton said.
“We have got a long way to go to the finals but are doing a lot of hard work at training.”
The captain was impressed with the pressure displayed by the side on Sunday.
“We put a lot of back-to-back sets together and held possession.”
“If we can play good footy like that constantly, we should be around the mark at the end.”
Rampling said that he would like to see more runners off the captain’s shoulders.
“He is always big up front and can easily get an offload away.
“We missed a couple today.”
The coach too is also casting an eye to the future and what awaits the Bulldogs come finals time.
“The top two is the goal for us now,” Rampling said.
“We have to finish in that two.”
“The Bears are beatable but they just minimise mistakes like the Wests of old.”
Matt Brady’s impressive effort earned him the three points in The Northern Daily Leader Group 4 Player of the Year Award and took him to four points with teammate Jie Smith.
Hilton polled the two points in the game and leads the competition with 10 points.
West Lions second-rower Tom Hine was deserving of the three points in the Lions’ victory over Oxley Diggers, taking him to six points on the Player of the Year table.
No results were supplied from the North Tamworth-Wee Waa game.