Dogs not about to bite the dust
DES Hasler hasn’t given up hope his Bulldogs can turn around their season.
All it will take is a bit of “finesse”. Canterbury is languishing in 13th position, having lost five of their past six, and now face the eight-placed Eels tonight.
The Bulldogs’ biggest problem has been scoring – their 208 points the worst of any in the competition, including bottom placed Wests Tigers.
“I’m pretty fortunate there’s great self-belief in this team,” Hasler said yesterday.
“And while they might be in a run of losses, you certainly can’t deny the effort and commitment to what they’ve been doing.
“Our biggest area of improvement that we need to work in ... is our execution and our finesse.
“Play well, create some momentum and then next week we go again. We need to go on a winning run, definitely.”
While the Bulldogs have welcomed back halfback Josh Reynolds, Hasler is wary of Eels fullback and competition leading try-scorer Clint Gutherson.
“(Corey) Norman certainly gives them a lot of prowess, certainly with their kicking game. It’s something we’re really conscious of, particularly near our tryline,” Hasler said.
“But I’ve been particularly impressed with their back five and Clint Gutherson back at one. He’s always been a really good player but the way he’s grown this year, he’s found his position.”