Group 4: Gunnedah Bulldogs women fell defending premiers, Dungowan Cowgirls

And the impact of that clarity was evident in the way the Gunnedah Bulldogs played against the Dungowan Cowgirls this morning.

Up against the reigning premiers on their home turf, the Bulldogs have settled into Jones' more Oztag-oriented style, and it paid off handsomely with a 12-10 victory.

"It's huge, and it gives the girls a heap of confidence," Jones said.

"That's what I said to them at the end. If we work on [reducing] our errors, imagine the team we can be.

"We just beat the premiers with those errors. We take them out, and we can do anything."

After a back-and-forth first half, in which both sides struggled to complete and traded possession back and forth, Jones told the Gunnedah side in no uncertain terms at half time, at which point they trailed 10-4, that the errors must stop.

"We stop making mistakes, and we win," was her summary of her half-time address.

The message sunk in, and Gunnedah produced a much-improved second term to score eight unanswered points.

It was hugely pleasing for Jones who, in her second year as coach, feels that she has finally found her stride.

"I feel like [the coaching role] is a bit more mine," she said.

"I feel like last year I did a lot of what previous coaches had done, so I'm finding my own feet now. Coaching and playing is still a tough job though (laughs)."

The last time the Gunnedah and Dungowan women clashed was in last year's semi-final, where the latter scored an 8-0 win.

Getting that win back was "absolutely" a motivating factor for the girls, Jones said, and she believes her focus on more Oztag-adjacent tactics was a key aspect of their win.

"Our past coaches have all been rugby league players, whereas I play Oztag as well," she said.

"That's what Dungowan and North Tamworth have as well, a lot of Oztag girls. So bringing a bit of that into it particularly helps us with our defence, because we know their structures a bit, too."

Having lost one of their key ballplayers to an ankle injury, Jones said Nautica Eather "pretty much did two peoples' jobs out there today", and also praised Tarryn Heinrich who, while normally a lock, played out wide and on the wing, where she picked up two tries.

On the whole, Jones was pleased with everyone's performance. And the camaraderie that drives their success on the field, she said, stems from the group's closeness off it.

"We're friends outside of sport, too," she said.

"We all know each other, we all get along. I think that really helps, there's no big heads in the team and we seem to gel quite well."

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