The first grade players met the Bombala Blue Heelers on Sunday, July 14, on the Heeler's own turf where they faced tough weather conditions and left the field with the final score 26-18 on the home team's side.

With it snowing in Bombala the day before the match, Bulldogs coach Jake McDonald said the cold and the wind had an impact on the team making it a hard match to play.

Despite the loss, he said the team was still pretty positive.

"You can't win all of them," McDonald said.

"They're not too down and out about it, we're still second on the ladder."

There were still outstanding performances in the match by the Merimbula-Pambula team.

McDonald said Blake Schafer was a standout as he had to cover a few positions due to a couple of injuries the side sustained in the match, but he had one so very well.

Also, he said the front rowers Jack McGuire and Grant Moon were "also standouts, as they have been every week".

In training this week he said the Bulldogs would work on their edge defence and ruck control, as following the match against Bombala he had identified some improvements that could be made in those areas.

"They know about it so it's about getting a reminder and getting that into their minds," he said.

"It won't be anything new to them, it will just be a matter of fine tuning."

McDonald complimented the Blue Heelers on their playing abilities, saying the team was "coming along really well" with a few new players who were very impressive.

"I'll be surprised if they don't beat Bega [Roosters] this week," he said.

This weekend the Bulldogs have a home game where they face the Moruya Sharks, with McDonald saying there would be a shuffle in his team's side as due to the injuries that had been picked up they would have to rethink the squad.

"We haven't finalised that yet, but it will be a different team to what we've put out there in the last few weeks," he said.

"I think they [the Sharks] are depleted too, so we won't really know what to expect."

He said he never goes into a game expecting to win, as you never know what you will get in a match.

"Expectation tends to lead to disappointment," he said.

"I just hope they have a level head and we'll see what comes of it."

With about a month to go until the finals, McDonald said he was hoping his team would be in second or third positions when the competition was over.

The Bulldogs versus Sharks game is at the Pambula Beach Sporting Complex on Sunday, July 21 from 2.30pm.