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The Canterbury Bulldogs held out for a 3-point win over the St George Illawarra Dragons on Friday night.
» Click here for the full match report
Final score
Canterbury Bulldogs 13
St George Illawarra Dragons 10
The Canterbury Bulldogs are out to make a statement and return to form when they host the struggling St George Illawarra Dragons at ANZ Stadium. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEST).
» Wondering what’s happening in the AFL? Follow our Geelong vs Bulldogs live blog
The Bulldogs were in strong form before last week, having won four straight in some almost premiership-like performances.
That was until they ran into the real premiers – the North Queensland Cowboys – and got taken to the cleaners in a 36-0 drubbing.
Still, taking that game out as a one-off, the Bulldogs are fifth on the ladder, just a point behind the Canberra Raiders.
Games like this are crucial for Canterbury to make the top four, and taking a ruthless attitude to the Dragons in attack is key.
The Dragons are coming off a horror loss to the Wests Tigers, and following losses to the Gold Coast Titans and Manly Sea Eagles, means they have given 93 points in their last three games. It doesn’t matter how bad your attack is, nothing is going to matter defending like that.
What was particularly worrying during the Tigers clash was their level of physicality in defence. They were missing tackles you would expect to be made at a school level and looked like they would have preferred to be anywhere else.
It was a woeful effort, and with any hopes of finals footy fast fading, plus fans baying for blood, the Red V need to make an emphatic turnaround.
In team news, the Bulldogs have extended their bench to six, adding Lloyd Perrett and Tyrone Phillips.
Despite terrible performance after terrible performance, the Dragons have only made forced changes, with Leeson Ah Mau out through suspension and both Jacob Host and Will Matthews onto the bench.
Prediction
It’s a fired-up Bulldogs outfit trying to get back on track, against the Dragons, who have shown nothing in attack and very little physicality in defence.
This could get very ugly.
Bulldogs by 24.
Be sure to join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 7:50pm (AEST) and don’t forget to add comments in the section below.
Follow Scott on Twitter @sk_pryde