Canterbury overcame the late loss of five-eighth Josh Reynolds to State of Origin duty on Friday night as they recorded a tense 16-14 NRL win over St George Illawarra at ANZ Stadium.
Dragons five-eighth Jamie Soward had a chance to send the game into golden point after the fulltime siren, but missed a penalty kick taken while having objects thrown at his direction from the crowd.
Nuggety Bulldogs utility Joel Romelo was named man-of-the-match in place of Reynolds, who on Thursday was included on the NSW bench for game one against Queensland at the same venue next Wednesday.
Surprisingly preferred to Kris Keating in the No.6 jersey and playing his first game of the season, Romelo was instrumental in setting up centre Tim Lafai’s two first-half tries that put the Bulldogs in control with a 12-0 advantage.
The Bulldogs seemingly had the game in the bag heading into the final 10 minutes, before Dragons centre Matt Prior scooted over untouched in the 74th minute to set up a thrilling finale for the 22,958-strong crowd.
In a frantic final play, Ben Barba fielded a kick and bolted 60m to touch down as the siren sounded, only for the referee to indicate a no-try when sending the decision upstairs.
On review it was determined Bulldogs forward Frank Pritchard had hit Dragons fullback Josh Dugan with a tackle, sending play way back up-field for Soward to have a shot at an equaliser.
The 35m penalty kick sailed wide and the Bulldogs held on for their fifth win in six games.
Romelo put Lafai in space in the 25th minute for the 22-year-old to score under the posts despite being reviewed for obstruction.
And then five minutes later, Romelo’s cross-field kick was skilfully tapped back by winger Drury Low for Lafai to dive over for his second four-pointer.
With Trent Hodkinson converting both tries to build a handy 12-0 advantage after an opening quarter that provided few clear-cut chances, the Dragons hit back with a rare eight-point try just three minutes before halftime.
Canterbury backrower Josh Jackson lost possession close to his line and Dragons centre Matt Prior instinctively shovelled the ball between his legs to Jamie Soward, who raced 25m to score in the corner.
Ben Barba’s sliding knees-first late tackle on the tryscorer was put on report and Soward gleefully slotted both the sideline attempt and the subsequent shot in front.
It was St George Illawarra’s first try in over two hours of action after last round’s 19-0 loss to Penrith.
Sam Perrett extended the Bulldogs’ halftime lead of 12-8 when he crossed in the corner seven minutes after the break.
Along with Barba, Dragons interchange forward Leeson Ah Mau was put on report for a high shot on Bulldogs prop Aidan Tolman while fellow Canterbury big man Sam Kasiano may be in strife for a potential chicken wing tackle in the 42nd minute.
The match kicked off later than usual, which was influenced by the TV broadcasters only having one Friday night game to show in an Origin-affected four-match round 12.
And Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis believes the arm-wrestle was partly due to the start close to 8pm (AEST).
“It was slippery in patches,” said Ennis.
“It’s just amazing how much that extra half an hour delay makes with the dew and the slipperiness of the surface.
“But it was alright. It was the same for both sides. It was just a tough slog.”
Dragons coach Steve Price bemoaned his side’s ill-discipline that contributed to their fifth loss from their last six games.
“We gave ourselves a chance,” said Price.
“There were a lot of good individual performances … but we are coming up with too many crucial errors and penalties in vital situations.”
solly
Guest
lol
solly
Guest
I like how Manly play. I think they do, however, get caught up in the niggle too much, but otherwise, they are interesting to watch.
Silvertail
Guest
Yeh right on ho ho ho ho ho,,,, knumb skull
Zaccaaa
Guest
Manly are just as rubbish lol
Bazzio
Roar Guru
Perhaps they should stare each other out BEFORE the game. Then some real footy might be played ;)
Bazzio
Roar Guru
+1 on the forward passes by Mennis that were let go by incompetent ref extrordinaire Maxwell, plus flat passes by Fein & Rein called forward. Even Goose Gould said the Dragons were "hard done by" by several ref calls, and he's blind to the obvious! With that off my chest, Dragon's so-called "attack" is missing in action ~ presumed dead, while Nightingale, Rein, & Stockwell each handed the ball back to the dogs, critically inside their own 40. To see a side with the ball standing flat-footed and watching while a half, a five-eighth, and a full-back, run back and forward across the field only to pass back to no-one umpteen times and lose 10 - 15 meters on each occasion is beyond description for this Dragons Tragic since 1965. Both the Dragons and the dogs appear to have a one-pass off the ruck and hope something happens structure to their play. The man-of-the-match awards are also a farce. The BIG and ONLY difference between the two sides was Frank Pritchard, who comprises 95% of the dogs momentum in attack & defence. Every week.
manlyman
Guest
Do you even watch the nrl my friend? That was a game of sub par / poor players doing nothing but mistakes ennis is a joke 'the hunted' the lego man should try watching some manly games!
manlyman
Guest
Isn't that how the manly warringah sea eagles play? Joel romelo man of the match? Just goes to show that these bottom 8 teams are way off the top 4!!!
solly
Guest
You know, sometimes you can watch the psychological battle between teams (and within teams) and find that to be absorbing.
solly
Guest
Again with the Australian refs...
oikee
Guest
Nice to see someone is easily pleased. The sharkies must be superstars, there games have been 10 times better.
oikee
Guest
Imagine how Gus felt, Soward really is a passenger now. The Dragons forwards turn in the tackles and get driven back 5 metres most tackles. Hard to watch, but the best team won in the end, no thanks to caribbean rwefs who almost destroyed another game. Barba is still not right, and throwing his knees into a try scorer proves his head is still elsewhere. Better game tonite i hope.
Red Rooster
Guest
Well I must have been watching a different game to you guys. I found it enthralling from beginning to end. Sure the defence was terrific but there were plenty of attacking opportunities and variations in attack. Saints made a lot of silly errors and panicked - kicking on the 4th instead of running the ball etc. Could have gone either way. One of the best Friday night games this season if you ask me.
solly
Guest
Not sure what you saw. The Bulldogs were building pressure along the same lines as last year. The other team thinks they are in the match because the Dogs haven't scored any tries but actually, they are being worn down and the being controlled. Canterbury not running away with the match is more a matter of fine tuning. In saying that, the Dragons did well to still be in the match the way they did. I thought it was a good match and I think it bodes well for Canterbury.
solly
Guest
I understand what you are saying. Attacks seem predictable, especially with that cross-field chip/bomb to the wingers. Same, same, more of the same. What the game needs is individual brilliance such as chip-kicks and things of that nature. Limiting the interchange may be the way to go.
ferret
Guest
I agree with your point. With increased fitness and better coaching, the defence is becoming better each year. I don't see a corresponding improvement in attack however. I'm not advocating wholesale changes just some minor adjustments like decreasing interchange numbers and, allowing quick taps, so opposing captains can't argue / question the ref to let their team get re-organised in defence and slow the game down even more.
Matt
Guest
If you want to watch all out attack with no defence just follow the Eels! Seriously though, it's more inept attack then good defence. There's plenty of thrashings still happening when teams turn up the heat.
ferret
Guest
No. I just think for the past decade or so, the game has favoured defence too much. I'm a rusted-on league fan so will watch the game regardless, but I don't think the unimaginative footy played last night, especially by the Dragons, will attract new fans and hence grow the game. A game can be low scoring and very exciting with lots of good attack countered by equally good defence (eg the Manly v Storm draw). But last night was a bit of a bash-a-thon with one out plays. Lots of teams do it including my team, The Broncos. They used to be an exciting team to watch, but at present there is nothing exciting or even interesting about them. It's also interesting to note that lots of coaches (Griffin, Toovey, Maguire, Bennett, etc) really emphasise the defence but I'd rather watch Ben Barba or Nathan Merritt or Billy Slater in full flight more than just once a game.
Clark
Guest
Do you just expect guys to start missing tackles on purpose and let attackers do what they want just because you were a little bit bored?
ferret
Guest
What a dull game except for the last 10 minutes. Watching it I kept thinking the sooner they reduce the interchange to 8 or 6 the better so there will be more attacking opportunities for the little blokes instead of big boofy blokes bashing each other for 70 minutes. It's sport it's supposed to be entertaining.