Canberra Raiders vs Canterbury Bulldogs: NRL live scores, blog

Hi Stuart...I certainly don't think your constructive comments like this are negative. Just when you're actively barracking for the other team in the live blog... I don't think it needs to take four years. I think that's a myth. Clubs like the Dogs, Roosters, Manly never need extended periods to turn things around. In 2008 the Dogs were a shambles, we'd lost virtually the entire premiership side in just four years, we couldn't give away our jersey sponsorship for free, SBW bailed mid season and we won a wooden spoon. Things were far more grim than they are now. In 2009 we were a game away from the grand final and an interchange breach away from a minor premiership. A lot of it comes down to attitude. I don't think the Raiders played great footy last night...but what they did, they went hard at it. Soliola, Leilua, Tapine in particular were tough as teak. We're not doing that and if I'm honest that's where I'm slightly disappointed this year. I wasn't expecting a miracle turnaround but I did think Pay would bring back that ethos of hard work that's been a foundation of successful Bulldogs teams and his number one quality. If you have that intensity of effort, the rest can follow. Tigers are a great example. Far from a star studded roster but they're going out to give it their all every week. I haven't seen it for a full 80 yet from the Dogs and it still looks to me like we're going through some of their plays at half pace and not trying to hurt in defence. At the end of this season Eastwood's $800K deal will be done. He can be re-signed for reasonable money or moved on. Decisions along the same lines will be have to be made about the Morris'. They're apparently on $700K each. They can re-sign for 32 year old money or find greener pastures. There's talk of Tolman moving on and if he hadn't have been injured last week it may have happened sooner rather than later. There will be spending cash available. I think we need a genuine 7, some pace out wide and another middle third forward pending some of our young blokes getting a run.

What did he say ? The media hasn't gone into a frenzy like a pack of rabid dogs , so I can't imagine it was worth mentioning.

Excellent work rate in defense by the Raiders and took nearly all their opportunities in attack. Sezer was excellent and Sam Williams useful until his injury. Both halves were targeted in defense by the Dogs but unlike last week actually used their shoulders and tried to make tackles. The loss of Wighton was addition through subtraction and I would implore Ricky to keep the far more dynamic Cotric at fullback and find another position for Jack........ perhaps as far way as England? The Leilua/Rapana combination looked more like the deadly 2016 model with Joey damaging in attack and defense while Rapana at his best is a joy to watch. All the forwards were aggressive and relentless for 80 minutes. Best player on the field for me was the big back rower Tapine. Smashed every Bulldog in defense and repeated the dose whenever he took the ball up in attack. If he plays like that every week and the rest of the team is switched on we'll win more then we lose. The Dogs attack was insipid and predictable but you can only knock over what's in front of you. Canberra must repeat this effort AND result next week against Parra to be taken seriously this season.

I thought the same thing a few times. There was a moment when 3 Canberra players ran to the ref to complain, yet no sin binning, they were offside multiple times on their line (both teams) (Hopoate's missed try comes to mind, watch the defence move up) but there weren't any calls... Seems the refs will only judge harshly when they want to.

Woods,ha,ha,ha.... Useless.

I saw plenty of good signs for the dogs last night. The attack needs work, but the dreadful depressing slowness of last year is gone. The tries they conceded would have been difficult to stop - their defensive effort and attitude seeemed good. And the raiders played out of their skin. If the dogs keep playing like they did last night, they'll win more than they lose. Once their attack starts to click, I think they'll finish the season sniffing around the bottom of the 8. Foran was great, but Woods as you say Stuart may be the new Williams - looking like a poor buy at this stage.

Yes, exactly Stuart. You've raised many salient points about the Dogs in past reads. I also occasionally pop into 'The Kennel' forum and must admit that many of us Bulldog fans had totally unrealistic expectations of the 2018 season. The inclusion of Pay as coach and the outing of Hasler and Dib is a start but the problems run far deeper. This is indeed an eroded team as you state and your conclusion of a four year turn-around is far more realistic. A bottom four team is about right at the moment......and it shows. I've seen us go through bad times in every decade from the 70's so I'm willing to wait.

Where was Todd tonight? No sign of any crackdown at all. Looked like a pretty normal game of football to me.

The Tigers are the same. Paying backended deals all the time finally blew up in our faces the past two years. But now we have a new team that isn't high n stars but is high in effort. We also have 1 mill left in the cap so things have turned around after 4-5 years of mediocrity.

All true Barry and I know you sometimes feel I get a little negative about our team, but this is the Dib/Hasler team that slowly eroded over the course of the last three years. I will be writing about it in my Saturday column. In Woods, we have a new Williams. In conversations with the new board they are looking at three years to recover, my article 18 months back said four years. Bulldogs fans need to stay cool and realise this is a bottom four team right now and it is not Dean Pay's fault at all, just the way things are right now. A long way back and we will get there but it just shows how bad things had become.

We really kept showing up in defence, a heartening effort. Good ball control too, a good night out.

Look how far back the ball goes from dummy half...the first pass goes 10+ metres backwards. It gets you nowhere in this day and age. Good win by the Raiders. They did it plenty tough tonight with injuries and no interchanges. With 25 minutes to go, the Raiders down to 15 and the Dogs back to 6 points, the dogs really have no excuses. It looks like it’s going to be a long season. I can’t think of too many Dogs players that were poor but collectively they’re not up to scratch. The attack has looked ok in the first halves against Penrith and Souths and even against Melbourne but tonight it was way off the mark. Way too deep. Three tries to kicks and a 100+ metre break from behind the tryline is pretty tough but that’s how it goes.

exactly.... Funny Ben Hunt doesn't seem so overpriced now. There ain't many quality organisers about

We always struggle down there....but ouch, there's a long way to go...