The St George Illawarra Dragons have regained top spot on the ladder with a tense 18-16 win over an improved Canterbury Bulldogs side at ANZ Stadium in front of over 20,000 fans.
The Dragons headed into Monday afternoon’s clash desperate to bounce back after being embarrassed 28-2 by Penrith a fortnight ago and they were quick to respond.
Ben Hunt went short to Euan Aitken who burst straight through a gaping hole in the Canterbury defence to open the scoring.
Only five minutes later the Dragons had their second of the afternoon.
Tariq Sims could have considered himself a tad unlucky to have missed out on State of Origin selection this year.
However, the non-selection appeared to have motivated him early as he crashed over in the 9th minute to extend his side’s lead to 8-0.
Poor ball handling from the Dragons was all that was keeping the Bulldogs in the clash early and a mistake by Aitken gifted the Bulldogs the chance to hit back – and they did.
Aaron Woods offloaded to Matt Frawley who then passed it on to Adam Elliot with seemingly little going on.
Yet the Canterbury lock showed great strength to charge through the attempted tackle from Hunt to reduce the deficit to two.
However, other than that, the Bulldogs were rudderless in attack with halves pairing Jeremy Marshall-King and Matt Frawley failing to give their side the direction necessary to post further points.
A late flying effort by Nene Macdonald gave the Dragons a comfortable 14-6 lead at the break and it appeared as if they would go on with it in the second forty.
However, the Bulldogs forward pack stepped up dramatically after the half-time pause and inspired Dean Pay’s men as they surged to an early 16-14 lead.
The first try came after Brett Morris sliced through the middle of the Dragons’ defence before linking with Moses Mbye who was pulled up 10 metres short of the line.
That break saw the Bulldogs gain an overlap on the right edge which Josh Jackson exploited when he put through a grubber kick which was grounded by Will Hopoate in the 44th minute.
Only three minutes later Canterbury had an unlikely lead. Jackson featured again, this time bursting through the middle and providing his side with prime field position.
Frawley sent it high on the last and Kurt Mann could not handle it, with Morris planting the ball for his first try of the afternoon.
Canterbury had several chances to clinch the victory at the death but back-to-back penalties saw the Dragons regain the lead and hold on to an 18-16 win.
The victory sees the Dragons sit atop of the competition ladder while the Bulldogs’ finals hopes appear to have been dashed despite an improved showing.
Final score
Canterbury Bulldogs 16
St George Illawarra Dragons 18
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