About 20 current players, Old Boys and club volunteers have been digging deep over the past few weeks to get "The Graveyard" back into playable condition in time for the club's May 7 clash with Maitland.

All three of the Bulldogs' trial games were cancelled and their first two matches of the Newcastle Rugby League season were postponed due to the conditions of the ground, after weeks of heavy rainfall in February and March.

Last weekend's round five fixture against The Entrance Tigers was originally scheduled as a Bulldogs home game, but was switched to the Central Coast as the Kurri ground was still deemed unplayable. The Bulldogs went down 32-4.

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The Bulldogs are away to South Newcastle this Sunday, and are scheduled to play at home against Maitland on Saturday, May 7.

Assistant secretary Bob Wilesmith said the club hopes to have the ground in working order in time for the clash with the Pickers.

"We are trying to get the water away so we can get onto the paddock and play," he said.

Wilesmith said the drainage situation at the ground has been complicated for several years, after an ag line was cut during work to install an underground sprinkler system. He said the club has been trying to get council to fix the problem.

The club has hired its own machinery and its band of volunteers (including a retired plumber and groundsman) are doing what they can to get the ground back up to NSW Rugby League specifications.

"We have gotten that desperate - it has to be done or we won't have a ground to play on, and we won't have a rugby league club," Wilesmith said.

Wilesmith said it will be "touch and go" to get the ground ready in time for the clash with Maitland, and if it's not ready by then, he hopes they will be able to switch grounds and play the Pickers at home later in the season.