THE NEW England Nomads have proved unstoppable all year and Saturday’s game was no different as they came up against a red-hot Gunnedah Bulldogs.
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The Bulldogs ran on to the field brimming with confidence after trouncing the Tamworth Roos the week before by 72 points.
The first quarter saw both sides evenly matched before the Nomads kicked into gear in the second and didn’t allow the visitors any chance of scoring.
From there, as they have done all season, the home side ran away with the match.
Coach Jed Ellis-Cluff said although they started slow, the Nomads were able to run around the Bulldogs’ big men to put points on the board.
“We weren’t quite happy with our first quarter,” he said.
“We did jump them early and then they got the last three goals of the quarter.
“We switched off a bit.
“We really focused in the second quarter.
“Our outside run started troubling them a bit.
“They are a very solid team, big bodies so their strength is certainly inside around the contest and they were certainly beating us in the centre clearances and around the ground in ball ups.”
The Nomads have struggled with accuracy with the boot all season but the practice paid off on Saturday, kicking 22.14.
Ellis-Cluff kicked six goals himself said the team had been working on their goal-kicking precision all season.
“We kicked well which was a nice change,” he said
“I think that comes down to being unselfish and we were really looking to square the ball up at every opportunity and have nice easy shots rather than hitting them from the boundary.
“We certainly have been practicing a lot of it all year because it has been pretty poor in every game.
“I think this is the first time it has been good.”
The Nomads have this weekend off before travelling to Inverell to take on the second-placed Saints.