Bulldogs down Souths in NRL nail-biter
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Rock and diamonds Canterbury winger Krisnan Inu continues to sparkle in the blue and white after nailing the match-winning field goal in the Bulldogs’ thrilling 23-18 NRL win over South Sydney at ANZ Stadium on Saturday night.
A week after starring on debut for his new club, having been unwanted by the Warriors, Inu was given the responsibility of breaking an 18-18 deadlock five minutes from fulltime before David Stagg added a late try to propel the Bulldogs into the top four.
It was a remarkable win considering the Bulldogs trailed 12-0 after just 15 minutes and, even after Inu’s one-pointer, they refused to quit as a desperate Ben Barba pushed Dylan Farrell into touch just short of the tryline to deny what would have been a remarkable Bunnies’ win.
The Rabbitohs were searching for five straight wins and looked well on their way when Justin Hunt’s early try was followed by Dave Taylor’s crushing run to the line.
Sam Burgess attempted to flex some muscle from the ensuing kick-off but only served to turn the game on its head when he sparked a minor brawl as he ran the ball with arm raised into fellow Englishman James Graham.
Given their first sniff of the Rabbitohs’ line, Canterbury were more bloodhound than bulldog as they pounced to seize the initiative with three tries in the space of eight minutes.
Inu scored his third try for the club before another Burgess penalty turned into a Jonathan Wright try.
What was meant to be a celebration for the Burgess family – as youngest brother George entered the fray to make it three brothers in the NRL for the first time since the Hughes clan in 2001 – turned sour as he too conceded a penalty from which Ben Barba scored.
The Bunnies’ contingent in the 19,439-strong crowd could hardly believe they were trailing at halftime, but another penalty just after the restart helped turn the tide Souths’ way.
Martin Tapau had only just gone on when he was a little over-zealous in cleaning up John Sutton, with the Rabbitohs levelling on the next set when Sutton’s kick for the in-goal was slammed down NBA-style by Farrell.
Both sides struggled to break free of the arm wrestle before Inu stepped up to end the Bunnies’ charge.
© AAP 2013The Crowd Says (5) | Page 1 of Comments
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June 3rd 2012 @ 9:59am
tommymonsternz said | June 3rd 2012 @ 9:59am | Report comment
hopefully for krisnan’s sake he reaches his potential, otherwise he may find his career coming to an end prematurely. there is no doubt he has bucket loads of talent, but without the attitude it is worth nothing. he was hot and cold for the warriors, from the winning try in the semis last year, to dropping the ball, 5 metres out against the storm, due to a loose carry, which resulted in a try and a huge swing in momentum. you can’t last long in the best competition in the world without consistency.
June 3rd 2012 @ 10:42am
Bearfax said | June 3rd 2012 @ 10:42am | Report comment
Two teams destined to be contenders for the throne. Littlr between them.
June 3rd 2012 @ 11:39am
MyGeneration said | June 3rd 2012 @ 11:39am | Report comment
If Farrell holds the ball in his “right” arm (which would be his left in this case), he gives himself a chance to put a fend on Barba, and a much better chance of scoring the try.
June 3rd 2012 @ 9:09pm
Worlds biggest said | June 3rd 2012 @ 9:09pm | Report comment
Farrell dived a metre too soon, it was the right idea however just hit the deck too soon. The bunnies will rue this one, up 12-0 and in control however as they generally do, drop the intensity and allow the dogs back into the game. The momentum shifted after Burgess gave away a penalty after the Graham hit and subsequent blew. Inu scored not long after and the Dogs got a sniff excuse the pun. The Rabbits must stay focused and not go to sleep if they want to compete with big boys. A great game !
June 4th 2012 @ 8:37am
The Barry said | June 4th 2012 @ 8:37am | Report comment
Ripper of a game.
Good to see Sam Burgess stringing a few games together. He’s outstanding (despite a couple of silly penalties). There’s his obvious skills like the big hits, line breaks, off loads but there’s a lot of little things he does that demonstrates a big engine and great attitude. He’s always the man coming through to pressure kickers, he backs up well.
How long until people stop bagging Ben Barba’s defence? I’d like to see a stat for one-on-one try saving tackles this year. He’d have to go close to top of the list.