Round 5
Raiders 12 l. Bulldogs 30

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Bulldogs grind out Raiders
Sun April 9, 2006
The Bulldogs after two weeks of controversy and turmoil have bounced back to defeat Canberra 30-12 in a match that lacked any serious attacking flair with the Bulldogs grinding it out and Canberra simply didn't have the class.

Trent Cutler scored the opening try of the match when Willie Tonga found his best form to get around the outside of his opposite number with Cutler on the spot to score his first try in Premiership football. Hazem El Masri converted the try and added two penalty goals for a 10-0 lead.

The Bulldogs had all the possession and weren't doing anything to punch the Canberra defensive line and leading 10-0 wasn't all that flash considering that Canberra were forced to do plenty of defence due to their own errors. Andrew Ryan scored three minutes before halftime when he crashed over from dummy half to open up a 16-0 lead following El Masri's conversion.

Reni Maitua got the Bulldogs off to an ideal start in the second half when he cut through the Raiders defence and sent Luke Patten under the posts to score. El Masri added the extras as the Bulldogs opened up a 22-0 lead.

Andrew Emilio scored a determined try when Daniel Holdsworth passed it out on the last tackle to virtually seal the Bulldogs victory at 28-0 or was that the case?

As usual with the Bulldogs when they open up a big lead they completely fell asleep with Todd Carney scoring two tries in two minutes to give Canberra a chance at 28-12 down with nine minutes to go.

The Raiders with Jason Smith off the field didn't have the consistent class to put the pressure on the Bulldogs with El Masri adding a late penalty goal when Clinton Schifcofske's goal line drop out didn't go ten metres.

It wasn't a convincing victory for the Bulldogs but a solid one considering recent dramas. Last week both Maitua and Mark O'Meley were dropped to Premier League and Brent Sherwin suffered a similar fate this week. Last Friday saw long-serving clubman and recruitment officer Mark Hughes defect to South Sydney and therefore ending the Hughes era at Canterbury.

Sonny Bill Williams should be back for the Bulldogs next match against Souths should he survive the coming week at training. But the Bulldogs will need much more than the return of Williams if they are to be a serious Finals threat.

Canberra were very disappointing as they couldn't control the ball in the first half and didn't take advantage of a very lopsided penalty count in the second half except for Carney's small burst with 12 minutes remaining.

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