SHARKS END DOGS’
THE Sharks have ended the Canterbury Bulldogs’ mini-revival and consolidated their own position in the top four after a tough 18-6 win in torrential conditions in Sydney’s west.
There was a major scare when the game was stopped for about five minutes in the second half when Bulldogs debutant Declan Casey was knocked out while trying to tackle Cronulla’s Andrew Fifita as the veteran prop carted the ball back from a kick-off.
The early reports are that the Bulldogs rookie was okay in the sheds after the game.
The medical staff from both teams helped the 22-year-old and took all precautions before they carefully placed him in a medicab which took him from the field.
The 8837 fans at CommBank Stadium held their collective breaths as he was taken from the field, but Fox Sports’ Lara Pitt revealed that the debutant was walking around moments after he entered the sheds.
It continued a costly afternoon for the rejuvenated Bulldogs who lost Tevita Pangai Jr to an ankle injury, while Josh Addo-Carr (lifting tackle) and Max King (crusher) were both placed on report as their two-game winning streak was snapped.
SHARKS STAY ABOVE WATER
This looked like one of those classic games that could have seen the Sharks slip up against the desperate Dogs.
And while they were clunky and committed 16 errors, they did enough to pick up a crucial two competition points that keeps them in the top four ahead of next week’s game against a weakened Storm side coming off an ugly loss to Manly.
They’ve now won three in a row and are playing the grinding footy that traditionally works well come the business end of the season.
DOLPHIN LAPS IT UP
The Dolphins have been widely panned for failing to land any highprofile stars, but Jeremy MarshallKing may well prove to be a sneakily good get.
The Bulldogs hooker has been one of their most consistent this season and he was their best player on the field on Saturday afternoon.
He split the Sharks early with a clean break out of dummy-half and then found Jake Averillo with a perfectly-weighted grubber for Canterbury’s first try on the stroke of halftime.
He nearly had a second try assist that would have levelled the scores with 20 minutes to go, but Canterbury’s pleas for a four-pointer were knocked back after a push undid Marshall-King’s grubber.
BURTON BRILLIANCE
This was never going to be a good day for the playmakers, but Matt Burton did everything in his powers to inspire the Bulldogs to another win. He kicked early to force a line dropout, showed off his wheels to chase down Ronaldo Mulitalo and launched a Burton bomb in the middle of a rain bomb to force an error to put his side on the attack. That field position should’ve led to six points when he attracted the markers and then played short to Raymond Faitala-Mariner who somehow spilled the Steeden over the line.
Burton then showed his guile when he drilled a restart into touch to get the ball back after Nicho Hynes missed a penalty goal, although replays showed the ball may have gone out on the full.
WET AND WILD
It wasn’t as windy as the Sharknado shocker against South Sydney a few years ago, but Saturday’s slopfest was played in some of the worst conditions you’ll ever see.
The rain set in early and did not stop, with puddles forming before kick-off as reserve grade ensured the field was chopped up before the main event.