Round 7
Canberra Raiders 20 l. Bulldogs 30

2009 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

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

Bulldogs overcome tough conditions as El Masri edges closer to 150
Mon April 27, 2009
The Bulldogs are now placed in the top three after overcoming a 12-0 deficit and a lop-sided penalty count to beat the Raiders 30-20.

It was freezing cold conditions in the Nations Capital with wind, storms, rain, sun and even hail with the one consistency being that it was colder than cold.

Canberra started the match better with Troy Thompson crashing over in the 5th minute of play.

Any chance the Bulldogs had of making a good start was thwarted by the two referees as the Raiders started off with four soft penalties including one against Luke Patten for allegedly walking off the mark when playing the ball. Joel Monaghan scored a strong try in the 13th minute to put Canberra up 12-0.

The Bulldogs worked themselves back into the game and Daryl Millard got the Bulldogs on the board in the 21st minute with a determined try despite the presence of several Canberra defenders. Hazem El Masri landed a great goal from outside that hit the posts and went over.

Ben Roberts misjudged the kick-off due to the windy conditions and from the drop out Canberra scored outwide through Adrian Purtell when a long ball from Terry Campese caught El Masri out of position.

Crafty play from hooker Michael Ennis allowed Ben Hannant to score untouched in the 30th minute under the posts and moments before half-time a clever interchange of passing with Roberts featuring heavily resulted in Bryson Goodwin to score in the corner. The unheralded Goodwin joined the Bulldogs after being unwanted by Cronulla and has turned into being one of the surprise packets of the season scoring seven tries in as many matches.

With the scores level at 16-all as the half-time siren sounded El Masri landed a bottler of a goal against the breeze from the corner of the sideline to put the Bulldogs up 18-16 against all the odds.

The second half was hard fought with both sides displaying great desperation with the crucial break coming in the 62nd minute when Ennis scored a well-deserved try from dummy half to push the Bulldogs up 24-16.

A controversial decision against Patten when the referees ruled he was tackled before passing to Jamal Idris when replays suggested otherwise allowed Canberra another set on the Bulldogs line with Alan Tongue pushing through defenders to score. Josh Dugan missed a kick from next to the posts as the Bulldogs led 24-20.

Canberra attacked the Bulldogs line in the final moments with Goodwin defusing a bomb and Greg Eastwood intercepting a pass from a desperate attacking raid.

El Masri scored his 148th career try in the final moments when a clever grubber kick from Ennis saw El Masri come from no where to dive on the ball next to the posts. It was a try that had the traditional Brent Sherwin trademark all over it, which for many years was a potent attacking weapon for the Bulldogs with El Masri pouncing on Sherwin's kicks from absolutely no where.

The try by El Masri moves him to outright 7th highest try-scorer in premiership history moving clear of Bob Fulton, who scored 147 tries for Manly and Eastern Suburbs. Only El Masri and Terry Lamb from the top 10 try-scorers also have over 1,000 points. El Masri played 95 first grade games before Daryl Halligan retired and in that time kicked just nine goals from 12 attempts.

One concern for the Bulldogs must be the penalty counts as they have been on the wrong end of decisions for the last six rounds with only the lowly placed and aging Sydney Roosters receiving two less penalties.

Patten was the only player penalised for walking off the mark when instances have been occurring all season including three by the Raiders in the same match. Patten was deemed to be tackled in goal when in fact the tackle wasn't completed and he passed to Idris in safety to run the ball back into the field of play. Idris was elbowed in the throat when in defence with no action taken and Michael Hodgson was collected high with no action taken.

Last week against Parramatta it took the Bulldogs 61 minutes to get a penalty aside from the Eels kicking off out on the full. Only against Manly in the opening round has the Bulldogs been on the right side of the ledger.

Strangely enough the Bulldogs have been one of the beneficiaries of the two referee system as it allows for more skill based football to be played with less reliance on wrestling and cross-field bombs - two areas the Bulldogs haven't been overly strong in.

The victory by the Bulldogs in Canberra makes it four in a row since the loss against Gold Coast and probably their best victory of the season considering the conditions and that playing the Raiders in the Nations Capital is no easy task.

Canberra played some very good football, but the Bulldogs were able to withstand the pressure better and El Masri's goal kicking proved to be a vital difference. The class of Ennis and the work of Hannant showed in the end.

The Bulldogs turnaround has been praised on the signings of Brett Kimmorley and the Broncos trio of Hannant, Ennis and David Stagg, but it has also been the signings of young Goodwin and the experienced Hodgson that have been important along with the rapid improvement of Millard, Roberts and hard work prop Chris Armit. Roberts in particular has benefited greatly from playing outside Kimmorley and is developing into a dangerous and confident player.

The good thing about the Bulldogs performances is that they're finding ways to win matches and aren't playing anywhere near their peak in attack or defence and it's new players each week stepping up to the plate.

Canberra are at home again on Saturday night against Penrith and the Bulldogs will do battle against the Wests Tigers on Sunday afternoon at ANZ Stadium.

TOP TEN TRY SCORERS
212 Ken Irvine (North Sydney, Manly)
180 Steve Menzies (Manly, Northern Eagles)
165 Andrew Ettingshausen (Cronulla)
164 Terry Lamb (Western Suburbs, Canterbury)
159 Matt Sing (Penrith, Eastern Suburbs, North Queensland)
152 Harold Horder (South Sydney, North Sydney)
148 Hazem El Masri (Canterbury)
147 Bob Fulton (Manly, Eastern Suburbs)
143 John King (St George)
142 Steve Renouf (Brisbane)

BULLDOGS PENALTY COUNTS
Round 1: Bulldogs 10 Sea Eagles 6
Round 2: Panthers 7 Bulldogs 5
Round 3: Titans 9 Bulldogs 7
Round 4: Sharks 6 Bulldogs 5
Round 5: Rabbitohs 8 Bulldogs 4
Round 6: Eels 8 Bulldogs 3
Round 7: Raiders 9 Bulldogs 4


Preview: Raiders v Bulldogs - NRL Round 7
Sun April 26, 2009
The foot injury that has sidelined centre Josh Morris could have a serious impact on the Bulldogs, who have been highly effective down the left side of the field this season.

Morris and winger Bryson Goodwin have each collected five tries, many of them the result of Morris' direct and powerful bursts. Rookie Jamal Idris was selected as Morris' replacement this week but both he and Daryl Millard are more often seen on the right side of the field.

The magnitude of their win over the Eels last Sunday flattered the Bulldogs, who looked tired after a heavy defensive workload in the first half and an attack of "Mondayitis" following their previous week's win over Souths.

Canberra went close to achieving back-to-back away wins when they fell by six to the Titans last Friday night but they should be far more comfortable playing on home soil. The Raiders have beaten the Bulldogs in three of their last four encounters at Canberra Stadium.

Look to a penalty goal to either side as First Scoring Play ($13) but stick with a Bulldogs victory by 1-12 points ($3-40).

First Tryscoring options include Joel Monaghan ($13), Josh Dugan ($15) or Jarrod Croker ($11) for the Raiders or Bryson Goodwin ($11), Luke Patten ($15) or Hazem El Masri ($13) for the Bulldogs.

Sunday April 26, 2009
Canberra Raiders vs Bulldogs at Canberra Stadium, Bruce, Canberra (ACT)

Canberra Raiders
Josh Dugan, Adrian Purtell, Jarrod Croker, Joel Monaghan, Justin Carney, Terry Campese, Josh McCrone, David Shillington, Travis Waddell, Scott Logan, Joe Picker, Bronson Harrison, Alan Tongue [c]. Subs: Tom Learoyd-Lahrs, Troy Thompson, Josh Miller, Dane Tilse, Nigel Plum (one to be omitted).

Bulldogs
Luke Patten, Hazem El Masri, Daryl Millard, Jamal Idris, Bryson Goodwin, Ben Roberts, Brett Kimmorley, Ben Hannant, Michael Ennis, Michael Hodgson, Gary Warburton, Andrew Ryan [c], David Stagg. Subs: Chris Armit, Greg Eastwood, Yileen Gordon, Jarrad Hickey.

Date: Sun April 26 2009, 2:00PM AEST GMT+10 [Sun April 26 2009, 4:00AM GMT]
Referee: Ashley Klein, Chris James

Predictions:
Matthew O'Neill: Bulldogs by 4
Paul Booth: Raiders by 8

OVERALL:
Total Games: 52
Canberra Raiders wins: 23. [Pts: 1007]
Bulldogs wins: 29. [Pts: 1085]
Draws: 0

Biggest wins:
Canberra Raiders: 40 pts: 2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 15 - [View] Sat: Bulldogs 18 l. Canberra Raiders 58 [Crowd: 9845]
Bulldogs: 48 pts: 2007 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 22 - [View] Sun: Bulldogs 52 d. Canberra Raiders 4

Biggest Crowd: 1994 J J Giltinan Shield and Winfield Cup - Grand Final - [View] Sun Sep 25: Raiders 36 d. Canterbury 12 [Crowd: 42234]

Last 50 games against each other form line (most recent matches at end of line):
Canberra Raiders: LLWLLLLLLWLLLWWLWWWWLLWLWWLWLWLLLWWWLWLWWWLLLWLLWW
Bulldogs: WWLWWWWWWLWWWLLWLLLLWWLWLLWLWLWWWLLLWLWLLLWWWLWWLL

Last 10 games:
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 26 - [View] Sun: Canberra Raiders 52 d. Bulldogs 34 [Crowd: 15411]
2008 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 15 - [View] Sat: Bulldogs 18 l. Canberra Raiders 58 [Crowd: 9845]
2007 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 22 - [View] Sun: Bulldogs 52 d. Canberra Raiders 4
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Finals Week One - [View] Sat: Bulldogs 30 d. Canberra Raiders 12 [Crowd: 14628]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 14 - [View] Mon: Bulldogs 26 l. Raiders 28 [Crowd: 12541]
2006 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 5 - [View] Sun: Raiders 12 l. Bulldogs 30 [Crowd: 12125]
2005 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 15 - [View] Sun: Bulldogs 28 d. Raiders 10 [Crowd: 8496]
2004 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 15 - [View] Sat Jun 19: Bulldogs 24 d. Raiders 20 [Crowd: 10473]
2003 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 25 - [View] Fri Aug 29: Bulldogs 16 l. Raiders 21 [Crowd: 20016]
2003 NRL Telstra Premiership - Round 7 - [View] Sat Apr 26: Raiders 26 d. Bulldogs 22 [Crowd: 19372]

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Tue April 21, 2009
• Idris replaces Morris, Utai dropped to NSW Cup
  
Tue April 21, 2009
• McCrone to debut for Raiders
  

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