Warriors fail to deliver enabling Bulldogs to break losing streak

The Bulldogs have notched up a first, beating the Warriors 24-12 in the first NRL match to be played in Dunedin.

Dunedin has hosted NRL preseason fixtures previously but this was the first time two competition points were for grabs in the deep south of New Zealand.

While it was officially a Bulldogs home game the majority of the 10,000 who turned up in Dunedin were Warriors fans and walked away from Forsyth Barr Stadium a dejected bunch.

A sense of frustration would have hovered over both camps, the Warriors had countless opportunities to put the game away but failed to deliver.

While the Bulldogs claimed a much-needed win they failed to impress in doing so, although their defence was sound.

It ended a six-game losing streak for under pressure Bulldogs coach Des Hasler – four at the back end of 2016 and the two losses to start 2017.

The Warriors dominated possession and territory through the first 20 minutes and fired many shots close to the Bulldogs’ line but without any success.

The best opportunity came in the 12th minute when an under pressure Shaun Johnson rolled a well-timed kick into the in-goal but an out-reached Ken Maumalo hand couldn’t finish the job.

The Bulldogs conceded five penalties to none in the first 15 minutes – two for high shots – and as a result, spent the majority of the time defending.

Eventually it took its toll and when another ball was kicked into the in-goal it was Bodene Thompson who opened the scoring in the 16th minute . The Johnson extras made it 6-0.

It was one-way traffic but when the Bulldogs finally ventured into Warriors territory, after a couple waves of attack, they struck.

From 15m out Bulldogs halfback Moses Mbye took what was only a very small opening, but a weak effort in defence from Sam Lisone left a big hole as he scooted through to score. Mbye then landed the extras from wide out and somehow the Bulldogs had locked the scores up at 6-6 after 30 minutes.

With two minutes to play in the first half the Bulldogs hit again and grabbed the lead for the first time in the game when a wellworked backline move had Warriors wing Maumalo lost in defence and his opposite Brett Morris in the clear to run in the try.

This time Mbye wasn’t successful with the conversion and it remained 10-6 at halftime.

While Hasler wouldn’t have been thrilled with the performance at halftime, the scoreline would have had him in a very happy place given they spent the majority of the first period defending.

Former Warriors under-20 sensation Brad Abbey – playing in his debut NRL game for the Bulldogs – provided the Warriors with some momentum early in the second half when he fumbled a grubber kick close to his own line.

The Warriors went hot on attack and Solomona Kata had a crack out of dummy half to score only to be penalised for using the marker as obstruction.

In similar fashion to the first half the Warriors spent a wealth of time attacking the Bulldogs line but came away with nothing during that 20 minutes of sustained attack.

o add to the headaches Manu Vatuvei was forced from the field in the second half with a knee injury prompting a reshuffle to the backline.

Just the midway point in the half the Warriors finally turned their dominance into points when some nice interplay from Johnson and second rower Thompson on the right edge led to Johnson scoring.

Johnson was successful with the kick to make 12-10 to the Warriors.

The lead, however, lasted just a matter of minutes as the Bulldogs found some field position and again was able to put Marcelo Montoya who scored in his NRL debut.

IAs the Warriors looked for a potential late try to send it into golden point Brett Morris ended the hopes with his second try of the game.