BEST on ground in a grand final for the third time and a fourth consecutive premiership all on 67 minutes of sleep - Marita Shoulders' Saturday was a huge whatever way you looked at it.
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The Bathurst Bulldogs star and Central West representative is a proven performer in big games, but her preparation for a fifth consecutive grand final appearance was far from ideal.
She finished work at 6.30am and her Bulldogs were due to kick-off their Ferguson Cup grand final against the undefeated Dubbo Kangaroos in Orange 10.30am. But just as they have been a brilliant combination on the field, Mel Waterford came up with a crucial assist for Shoulders.
"I drove to Mel's house, I parked in her driveway, I slept in her driveway, I think I got an hour and seven minutes. I left the car unlocked, she jumped in the drivers' seat and over we went," Shoulders said.
What unfolded in the decider was another typically gritty performance from the Bulldogs as they came from 12 points down to upset the Roos and win 17-12.
"We were written off, we were definitely the underdog, Dubbo were beating people 60-nil and the rest, the only points they had scored against them was us in the first round and I knew that we were under strength then," Shoulders said.
"So I knew that we still got points on them then and we'd improved out of sight so they'd have to put a big job together to beat us. We came through on the day .. it was one of the best games of rugby I've played out here.
"It was a very clinical game to begin with, it was just so clean. Especially from our end it was like ball down, over the ball, ball out, it was just clean phase rugby, couple of forward hit-ups then out to the backs.
"It got a bit messy there at points, but yeah, it was one of the best games of rugby I've been involved in."
It was one of the best games of rugby I've been involved in
- Marita Shoulders
Shoulders' grand final triumphs with Bulldogs
Shoulders, whose performance included a show and go followed by a 60 metre run down the left flank, a fend that knocked a Roos rival off her feet and her trademark work at the breakdown, was named best on ground.
It was not the first time she'd been given that honour either, but the talented forward pointed out hers was not the only big effort from the victorious Bulldogs unit.
"That's actually three out of five. When I played for Mudgee against Cowra I got it from the losing team and then I got it the year after against Cowra. The game against CSU it didn't get awarded and last year Jakiya [Whitfeld] got it," Shoulders said.
"Teagan [Miller], her and Claudia [McLaren] as the half-10, their combination in the last four weeks was amazing. Yes they made mistakes because they were young, but they controlled the game really well for us. We had direction on the field.
"Mel [Waterford] really controlled Bec Smyth well too, I don't think Bec moved without Mel hanging off her.
"After we played them in that first round our girls learned a lot, they built on it and trained and learned and came out and put it together."
Bulldogs became the first team in the history of Central West women's competition to win four consecutive premierships.
They beat Cowra 15-5 in the 2017 grand final, bettered CSU 41-7 in 2018 and last year downed Emus 34-28.
It was also just the third time Bathurst Bulldogs have strung together four or more consecutive premierships in a grade.
Only the streaks of Bulldogs' fourth grade unit from 1993-1998 and second grade between 1997-2001 have enjoyed a more successful run.
It was something Shoulders did not envisage when she first decided to become a Bulldog four years ago. She plus fellow forwards Waterford and Edwina Ulberg have played in all four grand final wins.
"I played for Mudgee the year before I joined Bulldogs, so I had a bit of an idea but didn't expect it because Bulldogs had a really rough season that season, it was their first season," she said.
"I chose to play for Mudgee that year because it was also their first season and I'm a Mudgee girl.
"I didn't realise what an impact we were going to have on Bulldogs - that's when Mel, Mandy [Scott] and I all joined in that second year - and we'd just go from strength to strength.
"It's been a pretty good run and we've never been minor premiers either, we've always gone the hard way about it.
"We've always gone the long, hard road. I think we get our bad games out during the season then we come right at the end."
Shoulders, who was also the oldest player on the field in Saturday's grand final, said that she and Waterford will both be back again in 2021 to try and win another premiership as Bulldogs.
