Brett Morris has led Canterbury to 36-14 win over the Gold Coast at Central Coast Stadium on Sunday to keep the Bulldogs inside the NRL top eight.
Needing to win to stay in the top half of the ladder, the Bulldogs forwards delivered when the chips were down while Morris came up with two key tries.
Already missing Aiden Tolman after he was a late withdrawal because of a hamstring problem, the Bulldogs were forced to undergo another reshuffle when hooker Michael Lichaa was taken from the field in the fourth minute with an ankle injury.
It forced back-rower Josh Jackson into dummy-half, however last year’s grand finalists hardly missed a beat.
The last-placed Titans were in the contest with 20 minutes to go after James Roberts mustered a piece of individual brilliance to reduce the deficit to six points, but the Bulldogs surged again.
Earlier, Morris opened the scoring before Curtis Rona – who also grabbed a double to sit equal with Semi Radradra as the NRL’s leading try scorer – crossed for one of the most entertaining four pointers of the year.
After the Bulldogs led 12-4 at halftime, they extended their advantage when Greg Eastwood was on the spot to clean up a Trent Hodkinson grubber.
The Titans looked like they were slipping from the contest when playmaker Aidan Sezer was taken from the field with a shoulder problem but Roberts kept his side in it with a display of blinding speed when he burst through a gap and ran around Morris.
However Morris made amends four minutes later when he showed his pace to grab his second, despite the hint of a forward pass in the lead-up.
The Bulldogs piled on three tries in the final 13 minutes through Rona, Eastwood and David Klemmer.
The Barry
Roar Guru
It's great Renegade...there's a bit of desperation in the air...almost every game takes on additional meaning. Titans played a really high tempo game yesterday and the dogs initially tried to go with them which led to a lot of errors and I was worried they'd run out if steam. They calmed down halfway through the first half, got into the grind and forgot about the scoreboard. In the end the Titans ran out of gas.
Renegade
Roar Guru
The bulldogs were quite impressive yesterday. The Titans showed up to play and it wasn't all easy but the dogs played really well and made it look convincing in the end. This competition is wide open, we're in for an amazing finals series and you get the feeling it's already begun... Sharks-Storm tonight, dogs-rabbits on Friday and Roosters-Broncos on Saturday. With more blockbusters to follow in the final two rounds. This is my favourite part of the season!
The Barry
Roar Guru
I've never seen anything like the way Brett Morris was left grasping at thin air. Roberts had been and gone before Morris even had time to react. Incredible pace.
nerval
Guest
I know James Roberts contributed directly to one of the Bulldogs' tries but the one he scored for the Titans was absolutely incredible. The way he left first, one Morris twin and then the other trailing in his wake was breathtaking. It's been said before by others, but truly I have never seen such speed on a rugby league field in my life. I really, really hope that Laurie Daley has the courage to pick - or at least consider - the likes of Roberts, Tedesco, Moylan and Wighton for NSW next year.