Round nine of the Greater Bank AFL North West features local side the Gunnedah and District AFC Bulldogs taking on the rising Moree Suns at home on Saturday.
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The match will serve as a curtain raiser to the Bulldogs’ 40-year anniversary celebrations in the North West competition.
The side will be hoping to showcase their skills and recent impressive form in front of past players and supporters.
In their last start a fortnight ago, the Bulldogs knocked off the previously unbeaten New England Nomads by nine points.
Bulldogs Greg Piggott described the result as a complete four-quarter performance from his side.
Previous to that triumph, the Bulldogs also registered 100-point wins against premiership aspirants Tamworth Kangaroos and Inverell Saints at home.
However Piggott is urging his squad not to be over-confident leading into the weekend.
“Hopefully we continue where we left off a fortnight ago, which was a team effort against Nomads,” he said.
“It’ll be great to see the old faces and show them how the club is operating and performing.”
The Bulldogs are missing midfielder Mark Barrow for the match.
But aside from that, they are expected to be at full strength.
They are currently on the same points as competition leaders New England Nomads, with only percentage keeping the Nomads slightly ahead at the halfway point of the competition.
The 40-year anniversary of the Bulldogs will take place at the Gunnedah Services club later that evening.
It is expected 170 guests, past and present, will be there for the function.
A 22-man all-time greatest team will also be named as a part of the celebrations.
Club legend Brian Lenton, along with fellow former presidents John Woolostan and David Chapman, had the tough task of picking the side and confirmed two names in the 22 – the late Johny Ackland and Dick Sergent – but remained tight-lipped on the rest.
He did confirm a large range of players from different eras were represented in the squad which made the selection all the more harder.
Meanwhile, Gunnedah’s Sam Naismith returned from injury to deliver a strong display in the Swans’ 46-point win over the Bulldogs at the SCG on Saturday night.
Naismith and Callum Sinclair dominated the Dogs, with Sydney winning the hit-out count 65 to 16.
The centre clearances were 13 to four, while the duo combined for 24 possessions around the ground to dominate their opponents.
