Bathurst Bulldogs second grade captain Phil Tonkin instigates his side's grand final comeback at Ashwood Park

Tonkin's try would be the catalyst for Bulldogs' comeback 25-10 victory over the Dubbo Kangaroos in this season's decider against the Dubbo Kangaroos in front of his home crowd at Ashwood Park.

Not only did the fullback find the opening try of the game for his side but he would also come off the bench for the Bulldogs first grade side in their grand final success later in the day.

Bulldogs had work to do in the second grade match on Saturday when they found themselves down 10-3 at half-time against the Roos.

However, with the wind at their backs when they returned to the field, it took the Bulldogs just three minutes to level the scores back up when Tonkin made a charge for the try line underneath the crossbar.

From that point on Bulldogs dominated possession and rarely let the Roos escape their own half.

They'd cross for two more tries to put the result beyond doubt with just over seven minutes to play.

Tonkin said the mood shifted when the team got back on level terms.

"In the second half you could really feel a change," he said.

"We were flat in the first half. In the second half we had a lot more enthusiasm. Once we got that try we had the belief that we could do it."

It was a year of solid improvement for the Bulldogs second grade men.

After finishing third on the ladder last year - with nine wins, two draws and four losses - the Bulldogs dropped just a single match during the regular season on their way to the 2022 minor premiership.

That sole defeat came when the Bulldogs were seriously undermanned for an away meeting with the Roos.

Tonkin said it's an impressive effort from a side who have watched their starting lineup shift week to week.

"I don't think we've had the same team two weeks in a row," he said.

"We've really built as a squad. It didn't matter who was on the field, we knew that they would do their job and put the best performance in.

"The depth at the club is amazing. We're very lucky in that respect. We've got good football from third grade right through to the top, and I feel really lucky to be a part of it."

A toss in any game on Saturday was certainly a good one to win.

When that when Tonkin's way he took the chance to run into the breeze during the first half to then hopefully have the same amount of breeze at his back for the second half.

He got his wish.

"We won the toss and we thought we'd run into it in the first half and if we could hold them down to a try or less we knew we'd be a chance," he said.

"It was a good breeze so if we had the same breeze for the second half we could play the ball down to their end and we could build on that. They didn't end up getting much ball at all."

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