Bulldogs hang on to slim finals hopes as they look to back up best win of year against Tigers

All hope for the Bulldogs seemed lost after back-to-back meek first halves gave them no chance in losses to Collingullie-Glenfield Park and Leeton-Whitton, before they ambushed heavyweights Mangoplah-Cookardinia United-Eastlakes last week.

Mazzocchi was rapt with his team's effort and pressure throughout, particularly for skipper Jack Haggar and defender Brendan Bryce's 100^th senior games for the club, but declared "it's a bloody frustrating game" after the unexpected turnaround.

All year the Bulldogs have struggled to back up a victory with another strong performance, having registered back-to-back wins just once.

They are two wins behind Collingullie-Glenfield Park, but their superior percentage has kept their finals hopes slightly ajar. The Bulldogs must beat the Tigers and last-placed Griffith in the final round, and hope the Demons lose their last two against the Goannas at Mangoplah on Saturday, and the Tigers next week.

"I stopped thinking about that (finals) after the Collingullie game. Our destiny was in our own hands then and now we're relying on others," Mazzocchi said.

"I won't be talking about finals, it will be all about Tigers. It's almost like rolling into the next pre season and trying to get the things we're bad at to improve and hopefully next year we can start at this level and go from there.

"We've been banging on about pressure for eight weeks and trying to improve, and all of a sudden (against MCUE) they reacted quickly, were able to stop their spread and hold them up."

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The Bulldogs will be without Stephen Camp due to COVID restrictions, while fellow Canberra recruits Ash Harris (groin), Shaun Allan (knee) and Mitch Ward (knee) were unavailable this week regardless.

Haggar, who at 23 was given the captaincy by Mazzocchi this year, rated the day one of his best career wins thus far.

"It wasn't about myself and Bryce, it's about showing as a club what we can do and I'm really proud of the boys," he said after the match.

"It's frustrating we couldn't play this way a couple of weeks ago, but we can build on this for next year.

"It's probably my best win. I'm a young bloke trying to lead the boys and everyone has my back, which is good.

"I've bounced a lot of ideas off guys like Harris and (Tom) Yeats, some of the older blokes. They've helped me out with how I address the boys and I think I'm getting better."

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