R17 | Bulldogs 12-18 Knights @ VAS, Mackay | Sun 3.00pm

[Rod]

Whew, that was torture, such a bizarre game. Don't know what the refs were up to near the end but that was poor officiating there. I thought the refs were very average actually. The decision to not play on after Brown got knocked silly cost us a try, Ennis threw the ball 5m forward and didn't get called for it at one point too.

As for the teams, Bulldogs were pretty bad but we pressured them into a lot of their errors and they actually probably looked more dangerous than us at times. As for us, if you wanted to be negative you could find 100 things we did wrong today but I guess the old cliché is it's two points and we can take them and the hell out of there. We gave them a lot of chances to score near the end but our scramble defence was good enough so credit to us.

Credit to the scrubs, Houston and Nev were very decent, Nev put in a great shot at one stage to force an error. Mason and Snowden were men on a mission, brilliant. Mullen and Roberts did some nice things but also failed to close the game out how I would have liked, a more clinical team would have potted the FG but that's something to work on I suppose.

 

[Burwood]

So the big question- did we win the game, or did Canterbury lose it? I'm really looking forward to our first win of the season!

 

[aqua_duck]

Shayne Hayne=the biggest myth in refereeing

 

[Swarzey]

So the big question- did we win the game, or did Canterbury lose it? I'm really looking forward to our first win of the season!

Nope. Canterbury lost it. They didn't take enough opportunities. Our attack was soft; tries came from pure luck.

 

[Yosh]

Darius needs some Newcastle Cup action.

 

[Alex28]

Darius will get some Origin action. Aku on the other hand...

 

[undertaker]

OH YEAH! What a win! Could that be a season-defining match right there? We're now back to 8-8 going into the home stretch of the season.

A very scrappy win, but we hung in there and took advantage in the 2nd half when it mattered the most. Excellent defence, especially towards the end there (although full-time had already passed, and I would've been very annoyed had the Bulldogs scored there).

oh, and congrats to James McManus being named on the extended bench for the Blues. Well-deserved

 

[perverse]

I thought the refs did everything possible to get the Dogs back into it in the second half - including giving them an extra play at the end, lol.

Earned that win with our defence. We had a lot thrown on us and held strong for the most part. It was a very determined effort for Morris' try. What concerned me the most was that we didn't score enough points eary when we had all of the ball. We had our opportunities, although the early greasey conditions probably didn't help, either.

 

[undertaker]

and what a hugely different side we are with a decent hooker. Danny Buderus, like a bottle of fine wine, has got better with age and craps all over Travis Waddell from a great height. Thank God Waddell has been confined to QLD Cup for the rest of the year.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

That was a tough game for both sides. Very hard conditions, rain before the game, plenty of wind, humid north qld weather. Was a solid grinding win against a desperate team.

Our scramble defence was pretty awesome.

 

[Frederick]

Robbie O needs to spend some sessions with Boyd to teach him how a Newcastle fullback really plays. Boyd has absolutely no pride or passion for us

 

[Noname36]

Well that was stressful.

 

[Noname36]

Robbie O needs to spend some sessions with Boyd to teach him how a Newcastle fullback really plays. Boyd has absolutely no pride or passion for us

Did you see his reaction when Willie tried to console him for his errors after the game? He was filthy with himself. I'm starting to wonder with Boyd whether his issue really is not having a go but rather being dreadfully out of form.

 

[Whats Doing]

I thought Boyd attitude after the game was pretty poor

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Do we have any good fullbacks coming through?

 

[Jono078]

Do we have any good fullbacks coming through?

Kev Naiqama will be off contract

 

[perverse]

I thought Boyd attitude after the game was pretty poor

What did he do? I'm getting pretty sick of him, too... although his involvement in McManus' try was first class. Hopefully after Origin he can get his mind back on the job.

 

[Yosh]

Kev Naiqama will be off contract

Gonski to the Penny Panthers.

 

[Yosh]

What did he do? I'm getting pretty sick of him, too... although his involvement in McManus' try was first class. Hopefully after Origin he can get his mind back on the job.

Mason was cheering and being all up beat and went over to Darius to hug him and celebrate. Darius pushed him away and went up into the sheds and got some kleenex out and had a huge cry and whinge. The second half of that sentence might have only happened in my head though.

 

[Chicken_Hunter]

Boyd is doing a really good job at pissing off his knights supporters. If he would just run hard every match and get involved, none of us would care if he made a mistake. Look at jimmy, a few weeks ago he dropped a sitter that cost us the game, but we all fap over him because he just gives us everything.