Bunbury coach Troy Hollands says Bulldogs will embrace underdog tag ahead of rematch with South Bunbury

Bunbury coach Troy Hollands says his side will embrace the underdog tag ahead of their second qualifying final clash with all-conquering South Bunbury at Hands Oval on Sunday. The second-placed Bulldogs very nearly handed the undefeated minor premiers their only loss of the season in round seven’s WA Day derby at Payne Park — leading for the entirety of the day before being sunk by a late comeback — but were thumped by 61 points in the reverse fixture last month. On the back of his side’s 14-point first qualifying final win over Harvey-Brunswick-Leschenault on Sunday, Hollands said he had full faith his team could hand the Tigers their first defeat on the year. “They’re a good side, they pantsed us four weeks ago at home. We’ve got to go back there now and try to redeem ourselves because what we did that day was pretty poor and they were very, very good,” he said. “They deserve to be outright favourites because they’ve been very good all year. We’ll go in the underdogs and we’ll just battle away with that”. The Bulldogs did not hit top gear in blustery conditions at the weekend but did enough when the game was up for grabs to maintain their double chance. Hollands said he was impressed with his side’s resilience in holding off the Lions. “I think we just ground it out. It was a real battle of two great teams,” he said. “The game didn’t open up at any point, it was really just a battle of wits, I suppose. “(The message) was just to keep working hard, work rate was a massive thing, and to keep doing the basics well. It was a slow, tight grind of a game.” The Bulldogs have been been bolstered in recent weeks by the inclusion of star basketballer Travis Durnin, who had an entertaining battle with one of the competition’s leading ruckmen Jack Fletcher against the Lions. Hollands said the most exciting thing about Durnin was his scope to improve. “He’s athletic, which helps. His leap’s extraordinary,” he said. “Obviously there’s a few things he’s got to learn with the ruck craft side of things and his movement around the ground. “He just adds a different dimension to our team.” Hollands said he was hopeful veteran Jesse Gribble, who did not feature in the closing stages of the win over the Lions due to what he described as a “tight hamstring”, would be available for Sunday’s game.