Xanthe Booth eager to help Bathurst Bulldogs overcome Dubbo Kangaroos at Ashwood Park

That's the scenario for this Saturday's highly anticipated Ferguson Cup top-of-the-table meeting between the Bathurst Bulldogs and Dubbo Kangaroos at Ashwood Park.

The 'Roos have had the upper hand in this contest throughout the 2023 season, winning a thriller in Bathurst 12-7 back in April before winning last month's rematch 17-0 while putting on a defensive clinic at Dubbo.

Bulldogs scrum half Xanthe Booth is hoping this is the occasion that her team can put an end to their rivals' unbeaten run.

"I don't in either of the games the score has really reflected how the games have gone, in particular our last game. We didn't score any points against them but it felt like we played more as a team compared to some of our earlier games," she said.

"We definitely didn't walk away with our heads down. If anything, it put more fire in our bellies to come into this weekend guns blazing."

Booth has been loving her match time with the Bulldogs this season after missing the 2022 campaign due to a broken finger.

The Bulldogs half picked up that injury playing rugby league for the Panorama Platypi in their Western Women's Rugby League grand final win.

Booth and Central West representative Kate Gullifer have proven to be a reliable combination for the Bulldogs in the halves, and they've got eight other Blue Bullettes players on either side of them ready to make an impact.

More of their playmaking will be needed to overcome a Kangaroos team who have now beaten them on six occasions in a row.

You have to go back to the 8-all draw in April last year to find the last time Dubbo failed to get the better of the Bulldogs.

Every match between the Bulldogs and 'Roos produces some of the best women's rugby you can find at club level across all of regional NSW.

That level of rugby saw the two clubs make up 19 of the 24 spots in this year's Caldwell Cup representative side.

"Dubbo's got some handy players and a bit of speed out wide. Their forwards are pretty much backs," Booth laughed.

"We love playing against them though because it's such a good contest, and it's a game that really shows off the skill that's out here in the Central West women's comp."

Bulldogs come into this game on the back of a 47-7 win over the Forbes Platypi.

Booth said that game was a great way for the team to bounce back from a close call against Orange Emus a week earlier.

"For the most part we've made improvement over the last few weeks. We're building well together as a team," she said.

"That was the case up until that Emus game that finished 10-0. That was a bit of a wake up call that we needed to take a step back and think about what we need to focus on at training to help lift ourselves in our games.

"There were a lot of errors that we made, and we can't afford those against Dubbo because they'll capitalise on them."

Kick-off at Ashwood Park is 11.45am.

Reading this on mobile web? Download our news app. It's faster, easier to read and we'll send you alerts for breaking news as it happens. Download in the Apple Store or Google Play.