Bulldogs smash ladder leaders

The Gunnedah Bulldogs’ dominant showing against the Group 4 rugby league ladder leaders last Saturday has set the standard heading into the tail end of the 2025 season.

The Bulldogs pummelled the Werris Creek Magpies 50-10 in front of a vocal, home-town Kitchener Park crowd.

Almost 40 points were scored in a second-half slaughter by the Bulldogs.

Coach Sean Hayne praised the strong showing by his young charges, both in attack and defence.

“We defended a lot better than we have been, our ruck speed was better and started playing a bit of shape, that we’ve been practising at training,” Hayne said.

But it was not all plain sailing for Gunnedah – a bumpy start meant the Bulldogs were off the boil for the opening 10 minutes of the game.

“We didn’t have the start we wanted,” Hayne said.

“The first four sets we dropped the ball before we completed [and] we let them score an easy try off our errors.

“But after the first 10 minutes we knuckled down.”

Gunnedah led by about 10 points heading into half-time.

Jared Heinrich was among the early try scorers – one of two four-pointers he would score on the day.

Sean Hayne said the half-time message was simple – hold the ball and maintain field position.

“I said to refocus and get back into the grind for the first 20 minutes of the second half, complete our sets, kick to the corner and try to turn them around,” he said.

Werris Creek, however, had other ideas.

The visitors capitalised on a dropped ball by the Bulldogs early in the second half and scored in the corner.

The Magpies were unlucky not to bank an extra two points when the sideline conversion bounced off the upright.

Gunnedah returned serve soon after and took advantage of two errors by Werris Creek coming out of their own half.

Two big driving runs downfield inspired good momentum for the Bulldogs, and set the stage for a big run of points later in the match.

The floodgates opened when Gunnedah hooker Callum Hayne scooted from dummy-half to score under the posts.

Another break downfield by the Bulldogs and quick hands to the wing, saw the Bulldogs score in quick succession.

After Heinrich nailed a solid sideline conversion, Gunnedah led 28-10 with about 20 minutes remaining.

More tries followed to Ezra Gibson and Sunia Naruma as the Bulldogs stretched the lead out to 44-10.

A diving try by Heinrich in the corner was given a rousing applause by those sideline fans in the home bar.

An accurate conversion from the sideline by Sam Taylor – one of three goals he booted – completed a strong effort by the Bulldogs.

Coach Hayne named lock forward Nicholas White as one of the best on ground.

“He was really good for us – tackled everything that moved, hit hard, ran hard,” Hayne said, before adding all players to that list as well.

“I thought across the board, everybody contributed and played their role,” he said.

With the Bulldogs defeating the competition leaders and avenging the 20-all draw from their previous encounter, the coach was quietly pleased with last weekend’s performance.

“We won’t get too carried away but it was a good confidence boost for the guys to know if they play to their potential they can compete with anyone,” Hayne said.

The Bulldogs are set to face Dungowan and Boggabri in the coming weeks – the latter scoring more than 200 points in just four rounds of football.

“We have a tough run home, we just need to try to win every game and see where we finish up,” coach Hayne said.

Meanwhile, Gunnedah’s reserve graders remained fifth on the points table following a creditable 28-22 loss to Werris Creek which scored six tries to four.

One of the top two teams in the U18s, the Magpies were too strong for the fourth-placed Bulldogs as the visiting team tallied six tries to two in a 34-10 triumph.

Gunnedah’s reserve graders and U18s also face Dungowan this Saturday.