The Bulldogs put on the afterburners to blow South Sydney away 24-9, putting on a three try show in the second half while restricting the Bunnies to nothing.
Frawley future for Bulldogs
Matt Frawley came on the field when the Bulldogs were sitting on two points after twenty minutes, and then when he left the field, they sat on twenty four. The Bulldogs are rudderless when they have Moses Mbye at seven, who struggles to control a team like a proper halfback would do. Frawley on the other hand is a natural, freeing up both Mbye and Josh Reynolds to play their natural games while he directs the team. He’s lifted the Belmore Boys to an in form contender, a sigh of relief after the massacre at Lottoland.
Strike two for Gorgeous George
Aiden Tolman was on George Burgess for probably too long, holding down in the tackle. George responded by giving Tolman two elbows to the face, because even though a slap is worth ten in the bin, two strikes to the face with an elbow is apparently acceptable. The charges for the match haven’t come out yet but it’d be ridiculous if George got off with anything other than a striking charge and a suspension, especially when you consider he just got back from a suspension for exactly the same thing.
Souths blink when the Dogs hold firm
The game was a grind for a long time, both sides doing nothing more than eyeing each other off and doing their best to complete their sets in an arm wrestle up the middle of the field. The commentators on Channel Nine were full of praise for the defenses and rightly so. Souths, however, could not do it for the full eighty minutes and blinked first, likely losing the game in a two minute period in the second half where Canterbury scored twice. A lapse in their concentration that ruined an otherwise staunch defensive effort will be on the agenda in meetings this week.
Kasiano feasts with an immediate impact
The Bulldogs have arguably the best bench forward in the game up their sleeve in Sam Kasiano. Not only does the Samoan behemoth have the playmaking skills of a halfback, but he has an amazing ability to come up with big plays when the team needs him to deliver. His deflection on an Adam Reynolds attacking grubber and subsequent recovery allowed the big unit space to race up field another forty metres and led to the Bulldogs’ first try. When he came on to the field his first play, letting rip an improbable loop-de-loop pass to Josh Morris, set up a line break. No team in the comp has such a game breaker to come on at the twenty minute mark
