On a day where the rain was as steady as North Coast's ability to score points, the Bulldogs under-23s progressed to the finals of the country championships in Maitland on Saturday.
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Newcastle and Hunter had no answers as their Dean Hurrell-coached opponents ran in 11 tries on their way to a 62-0 hammering on a waterlogged playing surface.
Wauchope halfback Tristan Scott and Port City fullback Owen Blair starred for the blue-and-whites with the duo playing a role in more than half of their team's tries.
Port Macquarie centre Jayden Ehsman also crossed for a double.
Scott scored a double and had a hand in several others while Blair nabbed a hat-trick in performances that pleased coach Dean Hurrell.
"Our young halves were led by Tristan Scott - he was on fire and played with a lot of confidence," Hurrell said.
"He chipped and chased off the scrum from about 40 out in the second half, regathered and put Owen Blair in straight under the posts.
"That's a sign to me that he's playing with confidence and owning the team.
"If you didn't feel like you are in control of the team you wouldn't try that and it's what I encourage them to do."
Hurrell admitted last week's 26-20 defeat to Greater Northern was a reality check his side needed to spark them into action.
"It was a bit of a kick in the pants last week," he said.
"If we won, we might have taken it for granted that we needed to win (this week), but we knew we had to win by a lot so we kept piling the points on.
"They all know how to play footy, but it's a matter of making them confident."
The Bulldogs look likely to face Monaro next weekend in a clash that looks like a daunting task on paper.
"Next week will be another challenge because we'll get someone like Monaro who will be tough and we're not going to be expected to win," Hurrell said.
"Hopefully we can at least put the wind up them and give them a scare ... at least be in the fight.
"We've achieved what we wanted to, but that doesn't mean we're going to stop here either."
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