The Bulldogs bounce back with a close defeat of the Rabbitohs on Saturday night.
Result
Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 36
Tries: (6) Blake Wilson 7th, 12th, 70th; Reed Mahoney 14th; Jacob Kiraz 25th; Ethan Quai-Ward 55th.
Goals: (6) Matt Burton 8th, 13th, 16th, 27th, 63rd (pen), 72nd.
South Sydney Rabbitohs 32
Tries: (6) Thomas Burgess 4th, Tyrone Munro 18th, 76th; Blake Taaffe 58th, 66th; Tallis Duncan 77th.
Goals: (4) Blake Taaffe 6th, 20th; Dean Hawkins 67th, 77th.
Report
With Rabbitohs depleted with players out for State of Origin duties and the Bulldogs looking to bounce back from last week’s thrashing at the hands of the Knights, the Saturday night match between these two sides was set to be a fiercely fought contest.
Thomas Burgess got the scoring underway for the evening early in the match before the Bulldogs benefited from the sin-binning of Taane Milne for dangerous contact.
With Milne enjoying his stint on the sideline, Blake Wilson got the Bulldogs off to a flying start, scoring not only his first NRL try but instead two four pointers in a five-minute span with Reed Mahoney piling on a third not long after.
South Sydney hit back through Tyrone Munro to get back within a converted try from the lead, although this hope was squashed soon after with the Dogs running in another through Jacob Kiraz, leaving the scores standing at 24-12 going into the break.
The Bulldogs came back out onto the field for the second forty ready to continue their dominance, adding to their tally only minutes into the resumption of play through debutant Ethan Quai-Ward who was a late inclusion in this match.
Blake Taaffe gave his best shot to get his side back in the game, scoring two tries back-to-back going into the final quarter of the evening.
Rookie Blake Wilson rounded out his evening by bagging try number three, before the Rabbitohs mounted a late comeback for the ages.
It was Tyrone Munro and youngster Tallis Duncan that put South Sydney within four points with a single minute left to play and gave the Bulldogs a last-minute scare.
In the end, it would be an offside penalty against the Rabbitohs that robbed them of the opportunity to level the scores and kick for victory, with the Bulldogs taking the two points.
PLAYER OF THE YEAR POINTS
Embed from Getty Images3 – Blake Wilson (Bulldogs)
2 – Blake Taaffe (Rabbitohs)
1 – Matt Burton (Bulldogs)
