Old feud re-opened in Bulldogs’ feisty win over Raiders
Jacob Shteyman |
Long-running tensions bubbled to the surface as a Stephen Crichton-led comeback cemented Canterbury’s spot at the top of the NRL ladder against second-placed Canberra.
The Bulldogs scored 32 unanswered points to overturn a 20-point halftime deficit and silence the majority of the sell-out 23,827 crowd at GIO Stadium on Saturday afternoon.
The 32-20 win puts Canterbury four points clear in first place, with eight wins from nine matches.
But coach Cameron Ciraldo will be concerned over the fitness of second-rower Jaeman Salmon, who limped from the field with an apparent injured ankle in the second half.
Salmon was a stand-out for the Bulldogs, scoring their second try following a Crichton line break.
The 26-year-old made himself public enemy number one in the nation’s capital with his try celebration, opening up an old feud with Raiders coach Ricky Stuart.
Salmon made a beeline for the nearest camera, stuck his index finger into the centre of his chest and shouted “weak-gutted dog”, in reference to a comment Stuart directed at him in 2022.
Stuart looked to avoid reigniting the feud when asked about the comment after fulltime.
“Honestly, how much do you really think I care about that?” he responded.
Crichton was instrumental to the Canterbury comeback, scoring their first try after the interval as well as assisting the second.
Another line break from the Bulldogs captain resulted in a try through winger Marcelo Montoya, who brushed past a scampering Canberra defence after Connor Tracey was denied by an astonishing tackle from Ethan Strange.
“I thought the skipper just put the team on his back there for a 10-minute period to kick us off, and just gave the whole team a lot of confidence in the way he went about the game,” Ciraldo said.
Prop Max King surged over from close range to put the Bulldogs in the lead after 58 minutes, completing the turnaround from none to 22 in less than 15 minutes.
It was a stark contrast from the first half, when it looked like the dominant Raiders would run away with it.
Canberra second-rower Hudson Young asserted his case for a State of Origin call-up, scoring his eighth try of the season as the home side scored four unanswered tries.
Second-rower Zac Hosking opened the scoring for the Raiders, powering over off a short ball from Tom Starling out of dummy half, before fullback Kaeo Weekes continued his impressive run of form with the second.
Xavier Savage finished off a slick move after fast hands from Jamal Fogarty, and Matty Nicholson put Matt Timoko into a gap, who drew Bulldogs fullback Tracey and served up a simple four-pointer to his winger.
But Canberra’s fine attacking form was absent in the second period, while the Bulldogs looked like another team after their half-time rev-up.
“We get a lot of pats on the back being a top-four side, but we literally had to look at ourselves in the mirror when we came in (at halftime),” Crichton said.
“Our mentality going into the second half was a lot better than the first half so, yeah, it was credit to the boys there.”
Tries to Viliame Kikau and Jacob Kiraz, who ran an impressive 148 metres and made 12 tackle busts, sealed the result.
AAP
