As they approach today's crucial match against the Queanbeyan Blues, the Goulburn Bulldogs are riding high on the back of last weekend's awe-inspiring performance, which drew emphatic praise from the opposition coach.
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In their Canberra Raiders Cup first grade fixture last Saturday, the Bulldogs hammered the Yass Magpies 10-62 at Walker Park,
As Yass are at the bottom of the ladder, the scoreline might not surprise many. But the Magpies are a different proposition at their home ground, and only a few weeks ago defeated the Blues at the same venue.
However, the 52-point scoreline at the end of the match left Magpies coach Cam Hardy in no doubt about the kind of form Goulburn is in.
"They're an awesome side, if they're not there at the end [of the year], it'll be a big surprise to everyone I think," Hardy said after the game.
The day also featured the 100th anniversary celebrations for the Magpies, who were eager to make a statement with a win over their higher-ranked opponents.
But with the return of key players such as James Aubusson, Tyler Cornish, and Haydon Hodge from injury, the last three matches have shown exactly what the Bulldogs are capable of.
Prior to the mauling in Yass, Goulburn hammered the Woden Rams (2018 premiers) by 43 points. The week before, the Bulldogs sunk the dangerous West Belconnen Warriors by 40 points.
The Magpies game, according to Kyle, showed that the team has begun to peak.
"That's one of our best performances, really. We're starting to hit our form at a really good time," Kyle said.
The most pleasing aspect of his team's performance, Kyle said, was the coalescence of its defence, which allowed the Bulldogs to weather an early Magpies storm.
"The thing I was most impressed was our defence," Kyle said.
"I think they had four or five back-to-back sets in the first half and we kept them out. When we got the ball, we just played Bulldogs football; we played fast and we played through them.
"I'm really happy with that one, it was a really important win for us."
The Bulldogs' resolute defence nicely complimented the team's attacking capabilities, which at times appeared almost unstoppable.
Out of the nine try-scorers on the day, the Cornish brothers all crossed at least once, while hulking forward Dillon Rota (three) led the charge for Goulburn.
This latest effort takes the Bulldogs' for-and-against margin to a jaw-dropping 321 points, more than 170 ahead of the Blues in second.
Both the Bulldogs and the Blues enter today's clash in good form. Queanbeyan are fresh from a decisive 16-28 victory over its home-town counterparts, the Kangaroos.
The first grade match between the Goulburn Bulldogs and the Queanbeyan Blues will kick off from 3pm this afternoon at Queanbeyan's Seiffert Oval.
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