A veteran and a young gun show their stuff as Dogs go down to Warriors

For this Bulldogs fan, Saturday evening’s clash against the Warriors was a pretty sorry affair.

Fresh off their galvanising 18-12 victory over the Storm last Monday night – one of the most stressful games I’ve watched in a long time – the Dogs should have had what it took to come out with a win over New Zealand.

That they didn’t is a testament to how far the Warriors have come in the last couple of weeks, and a sure sign they have what it takes to make it to the finals in 2016.

Of course, the fact that the game was held at Westpac Stadium meant that the Dogs were at a double disadvantage.

Not only was this more or less a home game for the Warriors – Wellington is only an hour’s flight from Auckland, the same as Sydney to Canberra – but it was technically billed as a home game for the Dogs, who were ‘hosting’ New Zealand in their own backyard.

Don’t get me wrong, that kind of collegiality is a big part of the game, and I love the idea that a team can host another team without having to play at their actual home ground. One of the best matches this season was the Round 5 clash when the Roosters hosted the Warriors at Central Coast Stadium.

It’s also important that the NRL reaches out to host more games in New Zealand. While the Warriors boast some of the strongest players in the game, they often feel a little on the fringes of NRL culture, not unlike the Catalans Dragons in the Super League.

For all those reasons, it was great to see the Dogs hosting the Warriors at Westpac, just as it will be great to see the Panthers hosting them at AMI in Round 10.

Nevertheless, there’s a different kind of challenge to playing a home game at a different venue – and anybody who was at clash against the Raiders a couple of weeks ago would know that there’s a world of difference between Belmore and Westpac.

Still, the fact that Westpac is only an occasional venue in the NRL levelled the field a bit. While most Warriors players have probably attended more games in Wellington than your average Bulldog, neither team is used to playing rep footy in the shadow of Mount Victoria. As a result, the game had all the excitement and intrigue that you get in a cameo venue, especially – for Australians – a cameo venue in another country.

From the outset, it was clear that both the Dogs and the Warriors were ready to excite. While neither of them have made it to the top of the ladder, both Canterbury and the Warriors have exhibited some of the most dynamic moments over the last couple of weeks. As arguably the two strongest proponents of second-phase play in the game, they both know how to introduce sudden twists and surprise endings to even the most predictable sets of six.

For all those similarities however, we were dealing with two different types of team structure.

On the one hand, the Warriors were operating more fluidly and seamlessly as a team than they have all season, with tries scored at a regular pace by David Fusitu’a, Blayke Ashford, Jonathan Wright, Tuimola Lolohea and Ayshford again, at the 64th minute.

On the other hand, the Dogs were dominated by Sam Perrett and Kerrod Holland, at least when it came to points put down, with Perrett dominating in the first half with two tries scored within four minutes, and Holland putting in a further two to ensure the Dogs never quite felt as if they lost sight of the prize.

It was great to see Perrett and Holland take the spotlight, although for very different reasons. While Perrett may be one of the Dogs’ most valuable veterans, he’s always been a self-effacing player both on and off the field. Modest almost to the point of invisibility – at least for such a big unit – he feels critical week in and week out, yet never seems to get his fair share of the media accolades.

So it was great to see him commandeer Canterbury over the first half, a reminder that sometimes it’s the quietest blokes on the field who exude the strongest sense of captaincy.

Having played 21 Tests for the Kiwis, Perrett also brought a particular authority to Westpac specifically, dominating Solomone Kata and Johnathan Wright on the Warriors’ left edge, and setting up Holland’s second try just before halftime. That try came about in part from a quick Sam Kasiano play the ball – a convergence of Bulldogs talent at a critical moment in the game that made me think for a moment that they might just bring in their first ‘home’ win this season.

As one of many young guns blooded this season, I feared that Holland might fade into the background, especially since there wasn’t really anything that impressive about his debut conversion against the Panthers. Sure, it was fortunate and well-timed, but Saturday night was a more substantial effort, and a clearer indication that the burgeoning centre has what it takes to elevate the Dogs in the long term.

Still, things weren’t perfect for Holland, who missed two of his four conversions – including one off his own try – even if he managed to bring in the last one at the 76th minute to rally the troops. Normally two from four would be that noticeable, especially for such a young gun, but given that Shaun Johnson also missed three of five conversions for the New Zealand side, there was an overall sense of this being a bit of a lopsided game.

Of course, try scorers and converters never give the full picture, and the Warriors’ effort arguably belonged to the props, with Ben Matulino and Sam Lisone putting in a sterling effort that, with a bit more luck, could have got Solomone Kata a couple of tries in the first 20 minutes alone.

Similarly, Will Hopoate continues to thrive at fullback, setting up Perrett’s first try beautifully in the 23rd minute, as well as providing the reticent Bulldogs winger with the momentum he needed to cross again three minutes later.

Obviously, it was a bit of a blow for New Zealand for Roger Tuivasa-Sheck to be taken off after twisting awkwardly in a tackle with Holland earlier in the game. Not only did it disrupt the Lolohea-Johnson experiment in the halves, it forced Thomas Leuluai to slot into five-eighth.

For the first time this season however, their identity crisis felt like an advantage, as the team proved that its arrangement was still provisional and flexible enough to accommodate RTS’s loss – even if Holland’s final try made them fight until the bitter end.

Now can the Warriors follow in Canterbury’s footsteps and bring in a win against Melbourne at AAMI Park next week?

On the other side of the Steeden, Canterbury need a decisive victory over the Titans at ANZ if they want to avoid losing momentum, especially since Gold Coast have something to prove after their loss to the Dragons the same afternoon.

Whoever comes out on top, it’s going to make for a great couple of games of footy.