For the first time ever I turned off after 10 minutes as the writing was on the wall then. The Dogs have been missing an organising halfback, so I will be interested to see how Sexton goes, but it is a big ask for him. The Bulldogs halves have been playing behind a beaten pack, so it is hard to judge. You state that they have got a lot of their players back, BUT THE TWO MAIN FORWARDS HAVE BEEN MISSING THROUGH INJURY ALL THE YEAR. Therein lies the explanation, King and young Jacob Preston would have probably come off the bench as this was his first year in first grade, but they have had to play every minute of every game, even carrying injuries. Last year I hated to see Vaughan leave as he was our best and most consistent forward and his and Josh Jackson’s defence have been very badly missed. It is all very fine to bring up promising young players, but they need to be in a team with experienced players around them, and Canterbury has not been able to do that. Hence last week’s inevitable crash. Like all Bulldog fans I am disappointed, but until the cavalry arrives in the form of experienced forwards I do not have high expectations.

I do not profess to be an expert, just someone who has watched League for a long time, and it has been obvious to me that we lack experienced forwards. Our forwards are small compared to other teams, TPJ has the size, but not the will and Pele is a rookie. King and Preston (also a Rookie) have been our starting forwards, and must be feeling the pinch, probably carrying injuries. Too many rookies in the backs – short on experience, a recipe for disaster. Don’t forget that last year the team had Jackson, who led by example. Halfback is of course is a problem, but that doesn’t mean the defence has to be in tatters. Time for Ciraldo and Gus to aim up, not talk losing culture bull……

Quite a harsh assessment. I am a Bulldogs supporter and as disappointed as any one this year, but realistically with the long term injuries to key forwards and the lack of an established half back, it was never going to be a good year. No mention of the NSW Cup team who are leading the comp and must have good depth as so many have been moved up to first grade to cover injuries. Our forward pack are too light and getting monstered – young Jacob Preston, a rookie is one of the shining lights. I will be reserving my judgment until next year, which is when I expect to see the two of the above glaring weaknesses addressed.

To say the defence was soft is an understatement – non existent on their own tryline. It has been quite obvious from day one that lack of depth in the forwards was a problem, and when injuries hit ,the proverbial sh.. hit the fan. I’ve watched a few NSW Cup games and while there is often great attack, the defence is often lacking, therefore it must take time for players that are brought up to adjust. Morrin is an exception to the rule as he put in a great effort yesterday. Somebody said that Jackson would have been very handy yesterday, my thoughts exactly, so would Vaughan. Nothing much will change this year or next unless we get an organising halfback, a decent fullback and a couple of big props.

A lot fans seem to be p……d off at Perham being picked every week as fullback, despite poor efforts in defence. It is hard to justify him keeping his place in the team. I’ll be very sorry if Averillo and Alamoti leave as they are both local juniors with a lot of promise, but no-one should begrudge them their opportunity. As for Penrith losing local juniors and others, it is what happens when you get to the top of the tree and others are trying to claw their way up. Both the Bulldogs and Tigers have been in that position and have spent big on some players, but it is a known fact, no matter how much young talent there is, a few older and wiser heads are what is needed in successful teams.

It is what it is – they haven’t been making excuses. It’s been next man up and do your job. Hasn’t always worked due to inexperience, and I feel they were a bit unfortunate lately. For three games in a row they have struck teams making a point, Tedesco at Roosters proving he should be picked for game 2, without him they would have won, ditto for Moses, and I am tipping Hynes will have a blinder on Sunday and put on a big score. Without the Fox and Burton it will be a big ask for young players, no matter now talented.

A disappointing performance by the Dogs, but think it can be put down to so many young players, with 30 or less FG games under their belt. I have accepted the fact that they are going to be up and down this year, but there are good signs with many of them. I saw Willie Mason in TPJ’s ear before the game giving him a load of instructions, and my first thought was “too much information” – probably accounted for his bad game.

Doesn’t Walker have an injury? I would have like to have seen Hynes picked, but Luai did nothing wrong in game 1. Let’s cool it a bit, so many doomsayers on here.

It was probably because Cleary was out and some people considered that they were a double act, but last night Luai showed that he is a class player in his own right.

Big forwards who run at tacklers holding the ball high with arms horizontal, do it with a reason, to hurt the opposition. JWH has always done it and it has now been taken up by big Tino. Strangely despite inflicting serious damage, they get away with it.

Sadly I have got to the stage of expecting bad decisions every game and we have copped a lot of them, often game changing ones. Did we get an apology from Annesley for the non sin binning or penalty when we lost our captain?

Congratulations to Jarrod’s Croker on his 300th game milestone – he is a credit to the game and deserves every accolade. Agree it should have been one of the Raiders past greats who blows the start of the Viking clap, would have been much more appropriate.

It’s par for the course for any team in the bottom eight it seems. So many wrong calls and on the wrong end of the 50/50 count.

Not much consolation for the Tigers, who lost the game as a result. They have been on the wrong end of a few such calls in the past. It would be interesting to know the stats on 50/50 calls as I think they would heavily favour the top teams. Last Sunday, in the Bulldogs against the Roosters, Suaalii was charged and will miss three matches for lifting his knees, which resulted in the Dogs losing their Captain for the rest of the match. For that there wasn’t a sin binning or even a penalty. In other games there have been worse decisions for the Dogs, players sin binned on separate occasions, for hip drop tackles, which were not charged by the judiciary. I am sure many other teams have a similar list of grievances, unconscious bias or conscious bias – it should stop.

NSW kicking game was ordinary in Game one. A lot of pressure on Cleary and he did not kick well, not much pressure on Walsh after all the talk pre game..
Why all the emphasis on combinations for NSW, as somehow Billy Slater was able to mould a team with the spine from different clubs and they managed to beat NSW in the last 10 minutes. I am wondering if Freddie is giving any consideration to Moses for his kicking – I think he is playing better this season than in the past. Anyway, is it too much to ask that a team is picked on merit and come up with a new game plan which does not rely on team combinations. Slater did it and it worked. Also I will be disappointed if Hynes is not picked as I think he deserves his shot.

Hynes should be in, who to partner him? Thinking outside the square, Moses 7 and Hynes 6, which he played for Melbourne, as well as fullback, or Burton at 5/8. Just random thoughts.

A lot of people thought Tedesco had a bad game in Origin, so can’t see the punters who said so are eating their words. He stood out today against the Dogs, but there’s a bit of difference between them and the best that Queensland can offer. I have been one of his admirers , but I was critical of him in the State of Origin. Not because he was out jumped by Lyndsay Collins or that he slipped over and let in a try, but BECAUSE HE WOULD’NT PASS THE BALL bombed a try and stifled the attack. I was amused at the commentary on Fox sports after the game it was all about the Roosters and how brilliant Teddy was, the Bulldogs didn’t get a mention, despite almost winning the game. It seems it was a sin to criticise him.

After that terrible refereeing, all going against the Bulldogs, I can’t believe that you think they were favoured. In the first half Campbell would have scored from a pass by a tackled player on the ground, if he hadn’t dropped the ball. A non -hip drop tackle, which unbelievably incurred a penalty, an elbow to the head and no penalty. I have yet to see a game this year where the Dogs were on the right end of the penalties and 50/50 calls. . Come off it!!

If you make a career of calling out footballers for bad behaviour, then the saying “what goes around, comes around” springs to mind. As PK is not appearing on 360, he apparently has been stood down until the matter is resolved. It is what usually happens, except in the USA, when Trump who has been accused and found guilty of a number of unsavoury things, can stand for President.

If you spend your life being judgmental about Rugby League players, so the old saying “what goes around comes around” comes to mind. Paul Kent is not appearing on 360, so perhaps he has been stood down until the matter is resolved. It is what mostly happens, except in America when a man who has been guilty of a number of unsavoury things, can stand for President.

I agree to a certain extent, I always felt they should have kept Paul Vaughn, who was their best forward last season. They went into this year fairly thin on forward stocks, and Thompson being out for half the year, Kikau injured for most of the year has highlighted that. As for Oloapu, whatever position he ends up playing in, I feel he may not quite ready yet. It’s hard for young halves to shine, when their forwards are being outmuscled. I think they tried to sign an experienced half-back, but missed out. The proof of the pudding will be when they get a full and fit team on the park.

To be fair, you are comparing apples with oranges. As Cooper Cronk said last night Webster has a lot more to work with than Ciraldo, a top halfback, a good fullback and a big, strong and skilful forward pack, a recipe for success in Rugby League. Whereas Canterbury is still struggling to find somebody to fill the halfback position, they are short of a big forward and their fullback has been very ordinary. Due to long term and a spate of short term injuries, we seldom field the same team each week.

Johnson is on top of his game and creating attacking opportunities all around the park, and our forwards were outmuscled by a strong Warrior’s pack. Burton is playing in the wrong position, simply because we do not have an alternative. Wilson the young winger played well and would have been a better choice last week than Casey, who let is a number of tries. Okunbar despite all the criticism he gets, is going well in the forwards, but overall we are weak in key positions, halfback and fullback. There does not seem to be a solution to halfback, but I agree it would be worth trying Averillo at fullback.

There seems to be more bad calls than ever this year, which in some cases affect the outcome of the game. It is not confined to the Warriors, as most of the bottom placed teams get the short of the end of the stick when it comes penalties, sinbins and 50/50 calls. There is certainly bias towards the top teams and anyone who can’t see that has not been watching the games. We are all biased towards the teams we support but to be fair it is happening to most of the lower placed teams. However, I know I will be very annoyed if this outburst causes favouritism towards the complainer as the Bulldogs play the Warriors next week-end. A fair go is what everyone wants.

If Cleary is playing injured, and Hynes is fit then he should be the obvious choice, as he is playing out of his skin at the moment. Also when he was at the storm Nicho was very versatile, playing in different positions and I always thought he had something special.
It is sometimes hard to follow Fittlers reasoning and I agree he does seem to have a preference for players from certain teams, regardless of form.