An understrength Canterbury have secured their fourth win of the season with a Jake Averillo double helping them to an 18-16 victory at WIN Stadium.
Two long-range tries to Averillo lit up the match and enabled the Bulldogs to take an 18-10 lead midway through the second half but a costly sin-binning of Corey Waddell a set later helped the Dragons claw their way back.
Dragons twins Max and Mat Feagai crossed each in just their second game in the NRL together as the game hung in the balance for the final quarter of the match.
The Red V had multiple chances to snatch victory but the final passes couldn't stick as the Bulldogs held their nerve for a gritty win without several of their big name stars.
What a long range try!
Dragons halfback Ben Hunt struggled with his hands throughout the game, spilling the ball twice in point-scoring opportunities. His final attempt at a two-point field goal on the siren summed up his frustrations in attack.
Canterbury crossed first through Waddell, who kicked for himself early, and they maintained a lead throughout the afternoon despite the efforts of the Feagai brothers and Toby Couchman, who crossed for his first NRL try.
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Match snapshot
- Bulldogs winger Braidon Burns played through the pain barrier after picking up a knee injury early. He finished with over 163 running metres in a fine performance under duress.
- Bulldogs veteran Josh Reynolds started the game at five-eighth alongside Matt Burton before debutant Karl Oloapu came onto the field in the 33rd minute.
- A total of 35 offloads were made during the match with the Bulldogs (18) recording just one more than the Dragons.
- Bulldogs centre Jake Averillo has now scored six tries in his past three games against the Dragons with three doubles.
- Bulldogs forward Corey Waddell was sin-binned for a professional foul immediately after Averillo's second try to keep the Dragons in the game.
- Canterbury made seven linebreaks to three during the contest but came up with a couple of bombed tries that could've extended their lead.
- Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan couldn't inject himself into the game as the side's attack failed to dominate Canterbury's defence.
- The Dragons' loss was their first in seven games at WIN Stadium.
- Dragons rookie Toby Couchman crossed for the first try of his NRL career.
- Blake Lawrie (154 metres) and Jack de Belin (169 metres) were enormous in the middle for the Dragons.
Play of the game
Jake Averillo's effort to go the length of the field on two occasions was there for all to see. If it wasn't his first try burning Tyrell Sloan to the line it was his second that ended up being the match winner.
Play it again, Jake
What they said
"What made me happy was probably just the grit we showed, I thought we found our identity a bit both sides of the ball. The last few weeks we've lived up to expectations and other times we've been below expectation. The way the boys attacked the week and energy we brought says a lot about the club. That's the first time Karl and Burto have ever played together so it will be a bit rusty at times but we're keen to keep exploring that." - Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo.
"The Bulldogs were very committed and we just got beat a couple of times in our own end. We should've been applying pressure down there but they ran 70-80 metres twice on us and that was the game. It's terribly frustrating. I thought today we were different to Tuesday. I don't want to make any excuses. We had our chances but unfortunately it goes down. We weren't good enough in some key areas." - Dragons coach Anthony Griffin.
NRL Press Conference: Dragons v Bulldogs - Round 9, 2023
What's next
Both sides will head to Suncorp Stadium for Magic Round next week with the Bulldogs facing the tougher test with a five-day turnaround set before they take on the Raiders. Cameron Ciraldo's side has a mass injury toll but may have to wait another week for any relief.
The Dragons will have a seven-day turnaround before they clash with Wests Tigers on Sunday afternoon. Mikaele Ravalawa (hamstring) is due back in a boost for the Red V.