Bathurst Bulldogs Dean Oxley commends side's ability to contain "powerhouse" Eagles pack

The first 10 minutes of Saturday's second half against the Cowra Eagles was one of those times.

Bulldogs couldn't get out of their own half during that period as the Eagles used their size to make metres through the middle of the park.

Eventually Bulldogs broke down a tiring Cowra side to run out 34-5 winners - a score that masks the effort that the visitors produced at Ashwood Park.

It was a much improved Cowra side from the one Bulldogs wiped off the park 54-12 during the opening round.

Bulldogs coach Dean Oxley was upbeat in the team chat after the game, calling it a strong test that the team needed heading towards the business end of the season.

"They're a powerhouse," he said.

"When they turn up with their big boys, ready to rumble, you've got to watch out.

"We've got some great footballers in our side but those big bodies can be hard to stop. In the end our class shone through, and the ability of this side to score points is definitely in this team."

Oxley said the game gives him plenty of areas to focus on across the last five games of the regular season.

"We had a lot of errors in the first half that stifled our play, errors that I thought were unforced, but pressure comes in different ways," he said.

"They could have been applying that pressure just from that line speed, but we made a lot of uncharacteristic mistakes and therefore we could not apply the tempo that we wanted.

"We had to fight for 65 to 70 minutes of that game and the boys enjoyed the fact they were tested. If we don't get used to that pressure when the finals turn up we're not going to be prepared as well as we should be.

"It was a cracking game of football today, I thought."

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