The Bulldogs centre went off early in the loss to Kangaroos and there are concerns he'll be headed for another stint on the sidelines.

Ballard has struggled with shoulder problems, and his latest complaint is far from what the club needs as they hunt for their first win of the season.

The Bulldogs are desperate to take advantage of a string of home games to start the year, but they face their toughest test yet to do so.

They have lost their first two games of the season and now tackle Southcity at Les Boyd Oval on Sunday.

Tight losses to Junee and Kangaroos show they aren't too far off the mark, but co-coach Chris Maher is looking for a more level performance against one of the top sides in the competition.

He feels they've been very patchy so far.

"We start off well and then I'm not sure what happens to us," Maher said. "We just go blank and then the next minute they are on top and we're chasing our arses."

Cootamundra led 12-0 against Junee in round one before conceding the next four tries on their way to a 36-24 loss.

They also scored the first two tries against Kangaroos last time out, and even led 10-8 at half-time, but struggled to maintain their momentum before falling 26-20.

It's something Maher is looking to improve.

"We had plenty of opportunities to win the game but just got lost in the middle there and didn't throw anything at them really," he said.

"We just went one-out, one-out."

Maher hopes they can turn things around quickly but knows they are in for a big test.

"Our first three games are at home so we were hoping to get Junee and Kangaroos," he said. "They are two winnable games for us for sure and then it's Southcity. That will be tough."

"We were hoping to get the ball rolling with one or two wins there."

Cootamundra lost a raft of their big name recruits from last season.

While there are some new faces it has really stretched their depth and that's what Maher believes has hurt the side so far.

"It's a bit frustrating and what hurts us is we haven't got much depth," he said.

"If a few blokes get injured early on and blokes are out of position things go off plan."

"If we can keep the same team on the paddock then I think we will go alright but it hasn't happened just yet."

READ MORE