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They may have found themselves twelve-nil down in the opening ten minutes against a Rabbitohs’ team fighting to make the top eight, but the Bulldogs still managed to scrape to a 26-18 win.
After two quick tries to Nathan Merritt and David Fa’alogo, the Rabbitohs found themselves in a position to put Canterbury to the sword and keep alive their fledging finals hopes.
Coming off three straight victories over the Panthers, Broncos and the Roosters, South Sydney played with the necessary confidence that nearly garnered them an upset victory against one of this season’s premiership heavyweights.
But for all of South Sydney’s recent form, not to mention a 12-nil buffer, Jason Taylor’s men still found themselves on the wrong end of the scoreboard against the same Bulldogs side that lost so convincingly against the Eels last Saturday.
Despite the poor start from the Bulldogs, a twelve point buffer was always going to do little to deter Kevin Moore’s men from completing the job at hand against an enthusiastic Rabbitohs outfit.
With the limited opportunities the Bulldogs had in the first half, the side still managed to make the most of the chances given to them.
Josh Morris and Hazem El Masri were each the try-scoring beneficiaries in the first half, courtesy of great lead-up work from Luke Patten and Jamaal Idris respectively.
Despite still trailing by two points, the Bulldogs had the momentum that earlier in the season would have seen them run away with the match.
Controversy, however, managed to rear its ugly head again for the Bulldogs, as the Rabbitohs scored a try despite half Chris Sandow running behind a team-mate.
A play that should have seen a penalty awarded to the Bulldogs ended up giving the Rabbitohs a valuable 18-10 buffer heading into the sheds.
While lesser teams would have played on with frustration, the Bulldogs once again displayed an attitude and composure that will serve them so well in the finals.
Not only did the Bulldogs peg back an eight point deficit, they managed to keep the Rabbitohs scoreless in a second half that saw the Bulldogs only get better as the game wore on.
In the past, the Bulldogs were a team renowned for starting well but finishing poorly.
Now it seems the Bulldogs have found the necessary formula to play at a high intensity for the full eighty minutes.
It might be their ability to win ugly that may prove the key difference in allowing the Bulldogs to be one of two teams remaining when the Grand Final rolls around in October.