Two weeks after their first trial match against Bathurst, the Workers Bulldogs will head to West Wyalong tonight to take part in the tournament that sees 16 teams compete from the region and the ACT.

The winner of the tournament earns themselves a handy eight thousand dollars.

But that would only be icing on the cake, says captain/coach Mick Picker.

Picker says he hopes the trip will help bring his team together ahead of the season, by camping at the family property of Michael Dodson.

The squad of 22 making the trip will camp at the Dodson property in Euabalong before (hopefully) progressing to the finals matches’ tomorrow evening.

Dodson says it would be a chance for the new guys to interact with their team mates off the park.

“That’s the whole idea of it all,” he said.

“Just to go fishing, swimming and then rest up for the game Saturday night.”

The Bulldogs are scheduled to take on the Wagga Brothers in their first knockout match at the late time of 10.30pm tonight.

If they win, they’ll take on the winner of Wagga South City or the Woden Rams tomorrow night.

“We don’t know what to expect,” Picker said of the tournament.

“We’re up against teams we’ve never played before. If we win, well it would be nice to do something for the players. Obviously we always play for the love of the sport but it’s always nice to give back and this will be kind of exciting.”

Games will be played with two 15 minute halves late in the day due to the summer heat.

“It’s fast footy, just flat out and hard on the body,” Dodson said. “It’s a big thing in West Wyalong. They get big crowds and money sets up their season.

“We’re going to give it the best we got with the players we got.

“If we had our full first grade squad I reckon we’d go close.”