The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have claimed their second victory under the guidance of head coach Des Hasler. They have closed 30-4 winners over the St. George Illawarra Dragons in front of a good crowd in attendance at ANZ Stadium of 29,641.
Josh Morris was the stand out as he crossed the whitewash three times for the Bulldogs. The first of his amazing efforts came in the 7th minute as he ended a messy set with points. He linked with Trend Hodkinson to add the Bulldogs to the scoreboard. Steve Turner had a perfect night with his conversion after 7 minutes, Bulldogs 6-0.
It didn’t take long for Morris to see his name on the big screen again as he crossed again after breaking into a hole of the Dragons’ defensive line. Ben Barba this time aided his effort to get over the stripe. Turner again no issue with the boot to give the Bulldogs a 12-0 lead after 20 minutes.
The Dragons managed only one try in the contest and it was from created by another Morris, as Brett set up Kyle Stanley for this four-pointer. The try gifted as the inside pass was collected by Stanley before he dived through the Bulldogs line to score. After 28 minutes, Bulldogs held leaders 12-4.
Three tries in thirty minutes is something special as Josh Morris brought up his third of the night in the 31st minute. A team play saw the ball travel through many hands before Morris found space to cross. The Bulldogs showed no signs of slowing as they hit the half time score of 18-4.
Things started to heat up when Michael Weyman was placed on report for a high shot on Bulldog Corey Payne. Weyman will have a case to answer later in the week. However he was not the only one in the Red V to see the arms raised from the men in pink. Late in the game Lesson Ah Mau joined Weyman as he was placed on report for a shoulder charge.
Regardless of the indiscretions from the Dragons, the Bulldogs remained composed as they ended the match with Greg Eastwood’s power seeing him over line. Steve Turner’s boot magic with 5/5 conversions. The Dragons not happy with the performance as they went down by the full time siren 30-4.
Both sides have a big task at hand when they look ahead to Round 3 of NRL action as the Dragons return home to WIN Jubilee to face the Wests Tigers. Whilst the Bulldogs jump on a plane to cross the Tasman to clash with the Warriors.
Match Details
Canterbury Bulldogs 30 defeated St George Illawarra Dragons 4
Round 2 – Saturday March 10, 2012 7:30pm
Venue: ANZ Stadium
Referee: Matt Cecchin and Ashley Klein
Video Referee: Sean Hampstead
Touch Judges: Paul Holland and Grant Atkins
Crowd: 29,641
Halftime: Canterbury Bulldogs 18 St George Illawarra Dragons 4