Dogs hammer Souths, claim sixth-straight win
George Clarke |
Ladder-leading Canterbury have all but ended Latrell Mitchell’s five-eighth experiment in a 32-0 demolition of South Sydney that further underlines the Bulldogs’ premiership credentials.
Played in front of a record regular season crowd of 65,305 at Accor Stadium on Friday, the undefeated Bulldogs registered a sixth-straight win to claim the club’s best start to an NRL season since 1938.
The five-try victory was the second consecutive game that Canterbury have held an opponent to nil.
“That (crowd) record is something we’ll always remember,” said Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo.
“We had a big supporter contingent there when we left the hotel.
“It shows how strong our club is… it was a proud day to be a Bulldog.”
Canterbury’s impressive win was built on a first-half onslaught that led to an underwhelming Mitchell being shunted to centre for the final 40 minutes.
Mitchell, who has been displaced as fullback by Jye Gray, has been filling in at five-eighth as Souths deal with an array of injuries.
But the NRL’s biggest name had just one first-half run and struggled to make an impact.
Souths coach Wayne Bennett was non-committal when asked if he would keep Mitchell in the halves against Melbourne next week and was left frustrated by his side’s discipline.
“They turned up. We weren’t at our best, they were,” Bennett said.
“We beat ourselves, that’s what we’ve got to take out of it.”
The Bulldogs were buoyed by the return of back-rower Viliame Kikau and five-eighth Matt Burton, but the real architects of their 20-0 lead at halftime were props Josh Curran and Max King.
The pair aren’t the biggest or most powerful front-row duo in the NRL but are arguably the competition’s hardest working.
Curran scored Canterbury’s first try with a 11th minute barge-over that came after Mitchell threw an unnecessary offload in his own 20m
Stephen Crichton then kicked a penalty goal when Euan Aitken was sinbinned for a professional foul.
A Mitchell kick dead then led to a seven-tackle which set the wheels in motion for King to crash in when Souths were down to 12.
King ended the longest wait – 80 games – for an NRL try, a fitting reward for a 205m return.
“Max has been one of our most consistent for a long time now, but he’s just going from strength to strength,” Ciraldo said.
“Over 200m, 39 tackles, no missed tackles, 65 minutes in the middle, and his first try in 2000 days, we just love him.”
Sitili Tupouniua pushed the Doggies further in front when he backed up a trademark cavalier charge from Jacob Kiraz before halftime.
Souths needed a spark and coach Wayne Bennett’s first lever to pull was to swap Jack Wighton into five-eighth to partner Cody Walker.
Mitchell was re-deployed at centre but Souths kept bringing themselves undone with basic errors.
Jacob Preston ran over Walker for Canterbury’s first try of the second half, before the veteran five-eighth, who has been battling hamstring issues, was subbed off for debutant Lewis Dodd.
Suspensions have delayed the English playmaker’s debut but Dodd showed some nice touches in a 25-minute cameo.
Bronson Xerri crossed before Canterbury saw out the final 10 minutes with 12 men after Marcelo Montoya was sinbinned for slapping.
Kikau (high contact), Aitken (hip-drop tackle) and Souths prop Tevita Tatola (crusher tackle) were all placed on report by referee Grant Atkins.
AAP
