Bulldogs finally find their bite
DES Hasler is out of the kennel. For now.
Canterbury bounced back against St George Illawarra with a 16-2 victory to end a four-match losing streak and take some of the pressure off their famous coach.
The Dogs still have plenty of work to do to ensure Hasler continues his remarkable September appearance record, but the victory will boost morale heading into the bye.
“I never really ever doubted the ability of this team. Plenty have,’’ Hasler said afterwards.
“That was a good win today.”
Hasler said the players were disappointed with the Panthers hiding last week, and there was still plenty of work to do, especially with their fifthplay kicking options.
Skipper James Graham said the playing group had remained calm, despite the hysteria being whipped up.
“There wasn’t that much difference from week to week,’’ Graham said. “A lot was hyped up in the press. We tried to remain calm. Obviously you didn’t need to be Freud to work out we weren’t happy with how we went last week.
“That was more like us (tonight) and more like the performances we expect internally.’’
Canterbury attacked from the outset, forcing a dropout with their first set. They enjoyed the bulk of possession and field position, only for Brett Morris to spill the ball over the line with not one Dragons player in sight.
A dubious penalty goal put the Dragons at 2-0, a lead they went into the break with.
Big Sam Kasiano was held up over the line before Josh Morris ended a 188-minute try-scoring drought for the club when he steamed on to a lovely inside ball from Will Hopoate to finish off some scrappy lead-up play.
When Michael Lichaa stormed over from dummyhalf, the hugely underrated local Canterbury junior Marcelo Montoya scored with five minutes on the clock, the Bulldogs Army rediscovered their voice.