Round 14
Bulldogs 26 l. Raiders 28

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

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

Raiders gallant holding out poor Bulldogs
Mon June 12, 2006
The Bulldogs poor record against the Raiders at Telstra Stadium has continued with the Raiders making it three from three against the Bulldogs, the Raiders extended their unbeaten record at the Stadium to five wins.

Suffering once again from the opportunity to go into a great position on the ladder, the Bulldogs once again failed to take the opportunity making 14 mistakes throughout the 80 minutes to hand the Raiders a gallant victory.

The Raiders were down to 15 men after just 8 minutes of play and despite the Bulldogs second half comeback were able to show the Bulldogs how far committment and mistake free football can take you.

The Bulldogs jumped out of the blocks with two tries in the opening ten minutes to Matt Utai outwide in the 4th and to prop Chris Armit in the 9th minute.

At this early stage the Raiders were already down 10-0 and without Michael Hodgson (ankle) and Woolford (dislocated shoulder) to injuries suffered in the opening.

A great solo try and sideline conversion to Raiders fullback Clinton Schifcofske in the 14th minute put the Raiders on the board.

Schifcofske used his speed to race around the Bulldogs outside defence to score in the corner.

The Bulldogs dominated a lot of the first half but were unable to post any further points due to poor options, mistakes and ill discipline.

It compounded in the 29th minute when following a poor mistake by Ben Czislowski handed the Raiders a gift opportunity.

David Howell capitalised producing a houdini act to score in the corner with his entire body in the air outside the field of play as the Raiders winger managed to place the ball down before landing out of bounds.

Schifcofske's missed conversion saw the teams deadlocked at 10-all.

It proved to be the turning point as another unforced error by Hazem El Masri trying to play razzle dazzle football in his own 20m cost the Bulldogs possession. The Raiders produced back to back sets in attack culminating with Michael Weyman powering through three Bulldogs to score besides the posts.

The Raiders took the 16-10 lead into halftime, but extended it to 22-10 with another Schifcofske try and sideline conversion in the 42nd minute. The Bulldogs didn't muscle up in defence and allowed another soft try.

Trying to score off every play the Bulldogs made a series of errors with the ball, none worse than when a long pass hit the grass only to be picked up by Phil Graham who ran 70 metres untouched to score under the posts to send the Raiders 28-10 ahead.

The Bulldogs finally found some composure and hit back with tries to Matt Utai in the 55th and Dallas McIllwain in the 62nd.

Down 28-20 a brilliant last tackle play by Reni Maitua saw him set up Luke Patten to score near the posts. El Masri converted despite an unhappy day with the boot leaving them 28-26 behind, but with 11 minutes to go on the clock and the Raiders tiring.

But despite rolling over the top of the Raiders in the final 10 minutes, the Bulldogs pushed the pass too often and couldn't make the most of several attacking opportunities. With only two minutes remaining the Bulldogs forced repeat sets in attack but just as the Bulldogs looked set to steal the match they made a mistake on an early tackle to hand over possession and the match to a relieved Raiders side.

It would have been an injustice if the Bulldogs had of stolen victory as the Raiders showed more committment and deserved to win the football game more.

Once again Steven Folkes has to find the answers to why every so often the Bulldogs put in an appalling performance. So far this season they have lost by large margins to Sea Eagles, Knights and Broncos. Again this loss was due to poor ball control through trying to score off every play a hallmark of those other poor losses.

Steve Folkes was critical of his experienced players saying they "Shot themselves in the foot, played very unimpressive and very dumb football."

"Flicking the ball out the back became contagious, became really disappointing that we didn't consolidate on the early lead."

"We had good success going through the middle of them, but we had a tendency to look to go wide."

Raiders coach Matt Elliott said he was very proud of his teams effort, saying it was absolutely sensational the way his forward pack punched through the ruck. Michael Weyman was the standout of the pack while Tongue and Williams put in great games. Captain Clinton Schifcofske paid tribute to his side, "You can't comprehend how hard it was to win with 15 players, it was superb."

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