Canterbury justify club’s faith in Pay
CANTERBURY have celebrated the contract extension of coach Dean Pay by holding off Wests Tigers to claim a 22-8 NRL victory.
Eyebrows were raised when the Bulldogs handed Pay another 12 months on Friday, despite getting off to their worst NRL start in almost 50 years.
However Pay’s men justified the move with four tries in the opening hour to stun the 15,127 crowd in Campbelltown.
Led by key men Kieran Foran and Dylan Napa, as well as club debutant Nick Meaney, the Bulldogs were near flawless in a first-half ambush.
Foran fought through an ankle issue to score a try and set up another for Napa, who also laid one on for Adam Elliott after halftime.
But the win didn’t come without a second-half scare. Leading 22-0 with 25 minutes to go, Pay would’ve grown nervous when Tiger Mahe Fonua finished off a right-side shift.
Then the crowd roared to life when Luke Garner scored 10 minutes later.
However the Bulldogs side showed plenty of ticker to hold on and lift themselves off the bottom of the NRL ladder.
The Bulldogs were lucky to avoid conceding the opener when the bunker ruled an obstruction in the lead-up to Corey Thompson crossing.
They took full advantage of a fierce southerly with a threetry blitzkrieg in 12 minutes, blowing the game wide open.
First Meaney ran 50m before Reimis Smith finished the 95m counter-attack. Three minutes later Foran crossed before putting Napa over for a three-try lead just before the break.