Gunnedah barked their way to back-to-back Crossroads Cups at Narrabri on Saturday - in almost identical fashion to last year.
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Then the Bulldogs dropped their opening game against the Tamworth Kangaroos before defeating the Kangaroos in the final.
Saturday was a similar story, although this time round the other protagonist was the Tamworth Swans.
The final was a tight and see-sawing tussle with scores level with only a couple of minutes to go.
In the end it was decided by a behind, Jacob Spackman hitting the goalpost to give the Bulldogs a one-point lead. Seconds later the siren sounded.
Bulldogs president Hamish Russell said it was a fantastic start to the season and noted the improvement over the day.
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That first game against the Swans they struggled to string any consistent good football together.
"Towards the end of the day all of sort of came together," he said.
"The talk, the run, the support, it just all clicked."
One of the most pleasing things was the performance of some of the new faces.
Josh Ryan, Sam McCrae, Kobe Harris and Kurt Fisher all had their first runs and "performed way above our expectations".
Fisher particularly was impressive.
"He's a 14-year-old and he was marking some of the best full forwards in the competition with great success," Russell said, adding that he has got some fantastic skills and if he chooses to play for them this season will be a great asset.
Mark Barrow also had a big day and was named the tournament mvp.
Spackman, Ben Maher, James Mack and Sam Proudfoot also had strong tournaments, Russell remarking that the latter was "very solid in the ruck tapping to advantage on most occasions".
He said the day was a great chance for new coach Doug Meagher to see his charges in a game situation and get a gauge of what positions players might be best suited to, and identify areas they need to work on before the first round on April 27.
Inverell Saints meanwhile won the first-ever women's cup overcoming the Tamworth Kangaroos in a hard-fought final 0.5 (5) to 0.0 (0).
