'She's a really gutsy player': 'Saving grace' snares Bulldogs an unlikely draw

It was at that moment that Meg Leaton, in her first season with the Bulldogs, burst through a pack of Inverell Saints defenders, kicked her first goal, and drew the game at Varley Oval.

"She's only played two games this season, and really takes it on," Gunnedah coach Jakob Vearing said.

"She's a really gutsy player and just surprises you constantly."

Leaton's mere presence in the side was fortunate for the Bulldogs, as she was not initially meant to be playing last weekend.

"She's been working a lot, which is why she hasn't played much," Vearing said.

"I told her that we're not fielding a full 22 this week because so many people are out. She said 'Okay, my boss is my uncle so I'll tell him I can't work'.

"She ended up coming with us, and a late inclusion ended up being the saving grace."

As the team returned to the changerooms, they celebrated the 4.5.29 to 4.5.29 draw.

And despite the fortitude they showed in leveling the score late, Vearing had to remind them that they were lucky to have escaped with a draw at all.

"It was an absolutely crazy moment as far as football goes, and they came off the field buzzing," he said.

"I kind of had to bring them down and said 'That's a pretty lucky result'."

Internally, however, Vearing believed the draw was a "poetic defeat".

He knew at some point during his tenure that the Bulldogs may well lose and, as many of them have never experienced defeat before, its impact on their ability to remain dominant was a mystery.

Therefore, this draw was "like a defeat" in Vearing's mind, but one which does not count as an official loss.

"To look at a team that's been winning for so long, you have to question whether they actually know what it takes to win," he said.

"If you've never known what it's like to lose, how do you know what it takes to win?

"Being the top side and drawing with the second-ranked side, in my books I regard that as a loss, but it still retains the girls' undefeated streak."

It was as much a lesson for Vearing as it was for the players, and the coach admitted that he was "panicked" on Saturday.

But, having escaped without a loss and gained renewed motivation, the Bulldogs can now focus on correcting the weakness exploited by Inverell on Saturday - their physicality.

"Inverell play a very, very physical game," Vearing said.

"It's the culture that they breed. With some of our smaller bodies and less physical players, it was intimidating from the get-go and a couple of girls really shied away from the contact at first.

"The consistent tackle pressure that they put on, it kind of threw out all the structures we've been working on."

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