Young gun Moses Mbye may have been rested for Canterbury’s NRL clash with Parramatta but it didn’t stop the Bulldogs asserting their playmaking dominance in a 24-point win.
The Dogs have mixed and matched their halves over much of 2015 with coach Des Hasler striving to spark his side’s attack.
Friday night’s game saw NSW No.7 Trent Hodkinson slot seamlessly back into his role as Bulldogs conductor, with old mate Josh Reynolds partnering him at five eighth.
The pair kept things on the front foot offensively.
Hodkinson produced a sublime dummy and linebreak in the 20th minute to put Frank Pritchard under the black dot and Reynolds followed suit early in the second half, with a kick into the arms of the onrushing second rower to double his try tally.
Josh Jackson, Brett Morris and Curtis Rona followed up with tries to seal the 28-4 win and keep the Bulldogs in the top four hunt.
Parramatta have likewise rotated their halves late in the season, with a cheekbone injury to regular No.1 Reece Robinson forcing five-eighth Corey Norman to fullback.
But despite four wins in their last five matches, playmakers Chris Sandow and stand-in Luke Kelly were unable to match their counterparts at ANZ Stadium , producing a disjointed display.
To make matters worse for the Blue and Golds, Norman was forced off with a knee injury set to sideline him for about a month.
Reckon you can pick the winning team? Build your own dream team with Draftstars daily fantasy and compete on any match. For great odds on the NRL head on over to PlayUp. Imagine what you could be buying instead. Set a deposit limit.
With several players knocked out this season, evidence is mounting to scrap or shorten kickoffs - but Graham questions whether the concern is all…
In particular, he is furious over the Bunker constantly taking tries away from players.
An NRL clause has come to light, stating that if a player is selected for a representative team and withdraws, the players agrees they…
South Sydney have given Lachlan Ilias permission to look elsewhere, as the NRL confirmed it had the power to block any attempt by Latrell…
If there was ever a testament required to the success of the New Zealand Warriors, we might have seen it this last weekend passed.…
If people can lose their job, and clubs can face massive payouts, due to the behaviour of coaches, it will drastically change the way sporting teams in Australia will be run.
