Dimity Maher
new author
Roar Rookie
Canterbury young gun Lachlan Lewis has slotted a clutch field goal to jag a 27-26 NRL win over New Zealand and throw a speed bump in front of the Warriors’ NRL finals ambitions.
» Click here to read the full match report
Final score
Canterbury Bulldogs 27
New Zealand Warriors 26
The 14th-placed Canterbury Bulldogs will take on the 8th-placed New Zealand Warriors today. Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the game in Round 23 of the 2018 NRL season at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, starting from 2pm AEST.
The Canterbury side will be playing for pride and a chance to etch further away from the bottom of the ladder, while the Warriors are looking to remain inside the top eight, with a logjam of teams still vying for those final spots.
The New Zealand side are the firm favourites at $1.57, while the Bulldogs are the outsiders at $2.42.
The Bulldogs lead the head-to-head record with a 17 victories to 13, however the Warriors won their last clash by 7 points back in June 2017.
In a huge boost for the Bulldogs, Lachlan Lewis returns to the side at five-eight, while the Warriors are unchanged after their impressive victory against Newcastle last Friday.
The weather is expected to be fine, with plenty of opportunities for the ball to be thrown around.
For the Bulldogs this match is potentially a crucial one as they will be desperately looking to avoid the wooden spoon.
They find themselves tied on points at the moment with the North Queensland Cowboys and Parramatta Eels, but have a less woeful points differential than those sides.
If they could find a way to win here it’d give them a valuable advantage in avoiding the acquistion of some unwanted cutlery.
The Warriors meanwhile have the chance to put a two-win buffer between themselves and the Wests Tigers with a victory here.
They have the least points for of any team in the top eight, and are behind three teams in the bottom eight also, so a prolific performance on the scoreboard would be nice.
Join The Roar for live scores from the match and a live blog of the game in Round 23 of the 2018 NRL season at ANZ Stadium on Sunday afternoon, starting from 2pm AEST.