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Canterbury Bulldogs progress to NRL grand final with six-point win over Penrith

27th September, 2014
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James Graham sees the writing on the wall if his side sign Aaron Woods. (Photo by Colin Whelan copyright © nrlphotos.com)
27th September, 2014
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The Canterbury Bulldogs have defeated the Penrith Panthers 18-12 in the preliminary final to reach their second NRL grand final in three years.

They will play South Sydney in the decider next week after another strong performance from the Bulldogs’ big men up front set up their win.

It was a sloppy game, with both sides committing multiple handling errors and conceding penalties. The Bulldogs had the better of the forward battle, and the Panthers were never quite able to find chinks in their defence.

James Graham opened the scoring for the Bulldogs, charging over under the posts after a couple of back-to-back sets on the Panthers’ line. Skipper Michael Ennis took advantage of the markers being out of position close to the line, and threw a well-timed pass to a rampaging Graham.

MORE:
Penrith Panthers vs Canterbury Bulldogs live blog

The second try for the Dogs game soon after, with Josh Jackson slipping through the Panthers’ line after clever decoy runs from both Sam Perrett and James Graham.

At 12-0, the Panther looked like they needed a try before half-time to get themselves back into it.

They got precisely that after some sustained pressure on the Canterbury line late in the half. It was the first time the Panthers had received the weight of possession and territory, having committed plenty of errors and giving away penalties in the first half hour.

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The pressure they put on for five minutes leading into half-time paid off, however, with Matt Moylan sliding over after a well-worked decoy play off Jamie Soward. They went in the sheds just six points down, 12-6 Canterbury leading.

The Bulldogs lost captain Michael Ennis for the second half with a foot injury, and it as a telling blow. Josh Reynolds took over at dummy half, but it impacted the Bulldogs’ shape in attack.

It didn’t matter though, as some well-worked play between the forwards saw them cross over through Dale Finucane.

From there, Penrith were unlucky to lose Dean Whare after a sickening headclash with Sika Manu. In need of points, losing one of their best attacking weapons didn’t help their cause.

With 10 minutes to go and still 12 points down, the Panthers needed to score next to have any hope.

After some scything dummy half runs from James Segeyaro gave Penrith some reasonable field position, a towering Jamie Soward bomb was thrown high in the air in the direction of Canterbury fullback Sam Perrett.

But Perrett wouldn’t come up with the ball.

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Young Penrith winger Dallin Watene-Zelezniak flew in the air, stole the ball out of the arms of Perrett, and crossed the line to give the Panthers hope with seven minutes to play.

It was the play of the game, but it wouldn’t deny the Bulldogs, who defended strongly enough to maintain their line until the final whistle.

The Panthers had a penalty in the final seconds, but with Josh Morris defusing the Jamie Soward bomb, it was over. The Bulldogs are through to their second grand final in three years, with Penrith’s dream run coming to an end.

Michael Ennis will be a concern for the Bulldogs, not participating in the second half at all with ice on his ankle after being trampled by Frank Pritchard in the first half.

Tony Williams is also on report for a high shot on Josh Mansour after his arm bounced up into the face of the Penrith winger off the ball.

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