BULLDOGS FANS REJOICE!!!
A confident performance from Ben Barba in his last outing has been rewarded with a starting spot for the Canterbury Bulldogs away match against the Canberra Raiders on Monday night.
Having spent time in NSW Cup working on his endurance, Barba made a significant impact playing the full second half of the Bulldogs match against the Titans - scoring two tries and setting up another.
“We’d identified that Ben had been struggling with extended game time and I made a conscious decision to give him time in NSW Cup where he could play the full 80 minutes and work on other aspects of his game,” said coach Kevin Moore.
“The benefits of the hard work he’s done spoke for themselves in our last game and I expect he’ll continue to develop as we gradually increase his exposure at the top level.
“Clearly Ben’s a real talent and we’re investing a lot of time in making sure he’ll be a mainstay of Bulldogs teams for many years to come.”
Ryan Tandy also made a strong impression off the bench in his first outing for the Bulldogs last week and has moved straight into join Ben Hannant as a starting front rower.
Michael Hodgson shifts to a five-man bench where he’s joined by Mickey Paea and Dene Halatau who’ve been impressive in a NSW Cup team that has won its past four games. Coach Moore will make a decision on the final squad later in the week.
TEAM LIST
1 LUKE PATTEN
2 STEVE TURNER
3 JOSH MORRIS
4 JAMAL IDRIS
5 BRYSON GOODWIN
6 BEN BARBA
7 BRETT KIMMORLEY
8 BEN HANNANT
9 MICHAEL ENNIS
10 RYAN TANDY
11 GARY WARBURTON
12 ANDREW RYAN
13 DAVID STAGG
INTERCHANGE
14 MICKEY PAEA
15 MICHAEL HODGSON
16 BRAD MORRIN
17 BLAKE GREEN
19 DENE HALATAU
Bulldogs media release