The Canterbury Bulldogs are at their home away from home when they take on the New Zealand Warriors with both clubs in desperate need of making a statement and taking two points in Dunedin. Join The Roar for live scores and coverage from 6pm (AEDT).
The Bulldogs have decided to shift this home game to Forsyth Barr Stadium in Dunedin and if nothing else, that makes the Warriors the home side which really should prove to be a disadvantage against Canterbury.
Canterbury have started their season with back-to-back losses, albeit against a pair of premiership contenders in the Melbourne Storm and Sydney Roosters.
In Round 1 at Belmore, with rain pelting down they couldn’t answer back to two early tries despite having the lion’s share of the ball in the second half. They squandered opportunities left, right and centre against the premiership contenders and paid for coming out of the gates with very little energy.
They started a lot stronger against the Roosters, but battling with injuries they were slowly overworked and couldn’t come back in the dying stages, going down by four points for the second week in a row.
The Bulldogs will be without Kerrod Holland and Will Hopoate for this clash, with Marcelo Montoya and Brad Abbey to fill the wing and fullback spot respectively.
If the ‘hosts’ are to pick up the win, it must come from their halves, Moses Mbye and Josh Reynolds, who have been a little off in the first couple of weeks.
The Warriors have been well below their best to kick-off the season as well, struggling to put one over the Newcastle Knights and then looking lost against the Storm at home last week.
Even though they beat the Knights, it was far from convincing and proved to everyone they still have a lot of work to do.
That point was rammed home last week as the Storm put 26 points on them. A running comedy of errors, bad options and poor defence marred the Warriors game and they looked like a team who are destined to miss the top eight.
Improvement is needed at a rapid rate and it’s going to start in the forwards. They were dominated up the middle last week and unless they can fix it, the Bulldogs monster pack will run over them.
However, if their forwards play to somewhere near the potential then it will pave the way for Shaun Johnson and Ata Hingano to steer them to victory. The Warriors have also made a change for the match with Tuimoala Lolohea replaced on the wing by Manu Vatuvei.
Prediction
The Bulldogs have lost too much depth in their backline to score enough points with an attack that wasn’t looking good anyway. The Warriors could run up a number here if they focus for the full 80 minutes.
Warriors by 16.
Be sure to join The Roar for live coverage of this match from 6pm (AEDT) and don’t forget to add a comment in the section below.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Cheers Alex.
Alex L
Roar Rookie
Solid game from the Bulldogs, not spectacular but decent. Good call Scott.
souvalis
Guest
Onya Dogs..not great considering that p..poor effort from the warriors but a wins a win..
Johnybulldog
Guest
Cheers mate.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Ha! Dance around mate. Been a while since the Blue and White have got a win. Big one at that. Thanks for the comments as always Johnny! See ya in Tamworth one day.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Full match report to come shortly in a separate article so keep an eye out for that. Thanks for joining me this evening on The Roar for our live coverage of the NRL Season as the Canterbury Bulldogs beat the New Zealand Warriors by 12 in Dunedin. Hopefully you enjoyed the call. That's me done for the weekend, but be sure to switch over to our live coverage of the Gold Coast Titans and Parramatta Eels with Isaac Norwoozi right now. Don't forget to check out The Roar's live coverage of Roger Federer vs Nick Kyrgios from 6am (AEDT) tomorrow at Indian Wells as well. Bye for now.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Match Statistics Tries: Bulldogs (4), Warriors (2) Goals: Bulldogs (3/4), Warriors (2/2) Penalty goals: Bulldogs (1/1), Warriors (nil) Possession: Bulldogs (47%), Warriors (53%) Completions: Bulldogs (31/38), Warriors (30/39) All runs: Bulldogs (166), Warriors (166) All run metres: Bulldogs (1506), Warriors (1384) Line breaks: Bulldogs (4), Warriors (1) Offloads: Bulldogs (11), Warriors (8) Tackles: Bulldogs (331), Warriors (300) Missed tackles: Bulldogs (17), Warriors (23) Penalties: Bulldogs (7), Warriors (7) Errors: Bulldogs (9), Warriors (9) Canterbury Bulldogs 24 New Zealand Warriors 12
Joe
Roar Rookie
Good performance by the Dogs. Did a lot of defense early but weathered the storm and came back strong like all the good teams do. Warriors without RTS are the same rabble in attack as last year.
Gail
Guest
At last a win . Go doggies maybe play in NZ every week.
Johnybulldog
Guest
Woo hoo go my Doggies,so proud gota love ur team winning...im dancing around like the idiot I am...cheer for the great call Scott,if ur ever up Tamworth way I'll shout u a few cold ones.
Scott Pryde
Expert
Thoughts on the match Roarers?
Scott Pryde
Expert
FULLTIME An average set from the Warriors ends up with Johnson firing a bomb, Abbey taking the ball and that'll be all she wrote. Canterbury brilliant in defence and did enough in attack to take victory in Dunedin - the Warriors... Well, they have plenty to work on. Canterbury Bulldogs 24 New Zealand Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
79' - Short kick-off, but the Bulldogs come up with it and they could run 70 metres to score again here. Warriors look very flat now. Canterbury come over halfway before Klemmer goes for a carry to the right hand side of the park and is taken 32 out on the last. Reynolds doesn't want a bar of it and boots a grubber over the sideline. Bulldogs 24 Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
CONVERSION SUCCESSFUL by MOSES MBYE Bulldogs 24 Warriors 12
Johnybulldog
Guest
Comon boys surley we're home
Scott Pryde
Expert
76' - TRY BULLDOGS, BRETT MORRIS The Bulldogs bring it over halfway through Klemmer before Tolman goes for a gallop. Graham goes inside 30 and then Reynolds links with Mbye on the left, Mariner eventually offloading to Lee who offloads back to Brett Morris and he scores in the corner. That. That is just woeful defence. This Warriors team are broken. Offloads left, right and centre there - none should have been allowed. Bulldogs 22 Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
76' - Afoa brings New Zealand back to halfway on the second play now before they keep it alive and Lillyman runs forward to take the tackle. Luke into dummy half and he has dropped it - just been that kind of night for the Warriors. Shocking bit of work. Bulldogs 18 Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
75' - Few nothing plays for the Bulldogs before Abbey goes for a run down the right and is taken 30 out. They go nowhere - well, left and right - through the middle before Mariner passes it and the Warriors end up with it. Bulldogs 18 Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
74' - Kata and Lolohea working it away from the Warriors own end before they make a shift left through Johnson and Hingano for Kata. He spills it just over halfway and the Bulldogs will go back onto the attack. Bulldogs 18 Warriors 12
Scott Pryde
Expert
73' - Klemmer and Tolman with a great start to this set for the Bulldogs before Brett Morris come sin for a run. Tolman has a second run before Graham comes to halfway and Reynolds then puts the bomb up, Maumalo bringing it back. Great set after points. Bulldogs 18 Warriors 12