Bulldogs snatch defeat from jaws of victory

For 70 minutes I was almost certain this article would be about how both the Eels and Bulldogs have established a blueprint to beat the defending premiers. And then the match exploded.

The Rabbitohs received a marginal penalty with just over five minutes to go to tie the match. They then absolutely butchered the ensuing kickoff and Trent Hodkinson kicked a go-ahead field goal.

After a perfect set of six, the Bulldogs pinned the Rabbitohs deep in their own half and proceeded to stop tackling, allowing South Sydney to march into the Bulldogs half before Adam Reynolds attempted a game-tying field goal from 45 metres out.

You know what happened next.

The Bulldogs did build on the Eels’ framework from last week however. To beat South Sydney it is now clear, you need to win the forwards battle. Both Parramatta and the Bulldogs did that.

Next you need to play direct, the Eels did that last week and the Bulldogs did this to varying degrees on Friday.

Finally you have to make the most of your opportunities. The Eels did so last week, the Bulldogs did not. And they paid the price.

This match always seems to produce plenty of controversy. Last year it was Rabbitohs fans who (wrongfully) thought they were robbed. This year it’s Bulldogs fans.

Let’s start with the contentious Issac Luke eight-point try. Luke darted from dummy half, dummied the football and lunged for the line. Four Bulldogs players went for him, and it appeared as though something dislodged the football before he could ground it. The on-field referee’s decision was no try. Conclusive evidence was needed to overturn this call.

As usual, we proceeded to watch replay after replay. While it was unclear whether Luke grounded the football, it was clear Sam Kasiano’s knees came into contact with the back of Luke’s head, and Josh Morris had come flying in with his foot, but missed Luke and connected with Kasiano.

Therefore the decision should have been a penalty try to the Rabbitohs, an easy six points.

Instead, the video referee concluded that Luke did ground the football on the line and that Morris kicked him in the head. I’m not sure how he came up with this decision and I guess we’ll never know, because referees do not speak to the media and the players and coaches aren’t able to even mention the Voldemorts.

As a result, the Rabbitohs received an eight-point try and the score line was 10-8 at halftime. The Rabbitohs received an extra two points that they probably should not have, not because the decision to award the penalty was wrong, but because the on-field referee’s decision couldn’t be conclusively overturned.

That brings us to the most controversial moment of the match: James Graham’s failed charge down of Adam Reynolds’ potentially game-tying field goal.

Graham charged at Reynolds, arms up, attempting to charge the ball down, then slipped and went flying straight into Reynolds’ legs. It was purely accidental and incredibly difficult to avoid.

It was also completely different to Felise Kaufusi’s shot on Benji Marshall, in which Kaufusi intentionally ploughed into Marshall’s plant leg. It was dangerous, it was reckless and it was intentional. There was no attempt to charge the football down.

Graham’s is different because a) he was attempting a charge down and b) he slipped over. Despite this fact, by the letter of the law, he should have been penalised. He took out a kicking players legs and you’re not allowed to do that. But, and there is always a but, the referees should also probably have shown some discretion in making their decision.

The field goal attempt landed nowhere near the goal posts. Graham’s contact had absolutely no bearing on the outcome of the kick. His pressure certainly did, but the contact came after the kick had been attempted. Referees usually put their whistles in their pockets in the final five minutes of matches; this is an instance where they probably should have.

However, before Bulldogs fans start blaming the referees on the loss, they need to look at their own team. Did the penalty have a profound impact on the outcome of the game? Yes. Did the penalty cost the Bulldogs the game? No. They should never have let the game get to this point.

The Bulldogs were by far the better team. They had a number of opportunities throughout the second half to put the Rabbitohs to bed and but instead they turned the ball over repeatedly, attacked laterally, and they had a number of poor kicks.

The primary offender for the two latter crimes was returning five-eighth Josh Reynolds. It’s a miracle he was able to play on Friday and he looked very rusty as a result. He spent way too much time running across field and his kicking game was very poor. A lot of the time on the fifth tackle he was playing extremely flat, putting himself under significant pressure while attempting to get a kick away.

Furthermore, the Bulldogs could easily have prevented the Rabbitohs from getting into scoring position. When Luke scored the eight-point try the Rabbitohs only had the ball in attacking position because the Bulldogs turned it over. Kasiano had been tackled and instead of waiting until the Souths players were off him he attempted to play the ball with multiple players lying on him. Consequently he dropped it and South Sydney capitalised on his error.

The Bulldogs were again their own worst enemy leading up to Reynolds’ field-goal disaster. The set of six after Hodkinson’s field goal was absolutely perfect. It started with a number of excellent runs from their big forwards that got them into the Rabbitohs’ half of the field, before Hodkinson drilled the ball into touch five metres out from the Rabbitohs’ line.

With three minutes remaining the Bulldogs just had to maintain their composure, not give away any stupid penalties and get up off the line and prevent the Rabbitohs from picking up any cheap metres.

Instead, we saw the most passive defensive set of six from the Bulldogs for the entire game.

It was terrible. The line speed was non-existent; they allowed the big Souths forwards to run towards them and gave up 10 to 15 metres every play. This allowed the Rabbitohs to put Reynolds in a position to attempt a field goal.

If the Bulldogs defend this set like they had the rest of the match, Reynolds would never have attempted the decisive field goal.