Bulldogs players looks on during the round 10 NRL match between the Canterbury Bulldogs and the North Queensland Cowboys.
THE Canterbury Bulldogs continue to baffle league experts after another disappointing performance against the North Queensland Cowboys.
North Queensland simply outclassed Des Hasler’s side, claiming a 30-14 win at ANZ Stadium on Thursday night.
Coach Hasler refused to release a number of players for the City-Country representative fixture last round, citing the short turnaround for their match against the Cowboys — but the performance offered up by the Bulldogs meant the drama was all for nothing.
Channel Nine commentator Phil Gould admits he is confused by the Bulldogs’ continued mixed form, saying they’ve been unable to string together consistent football so far this NRL campaign.
“They’ve been up and down, haven’t they?” Gould said.
“When they were beaten by Manly, they looked absolutely dreadful. Everyone was calling for the coach’s head and players to be traded and dropped.
“All of a sudden they went on a winning run and they turned it around, I thought they’ve been impressive of late.
“They stood their players down from the City-Country game so they were fresh for tonight — but it hasn’t shown in their play.
“Then the scoreboard got in their heads and they didn’t really look dangerous until the Cowboys had 12 men.”
Josh Reynolds of the Bulldogs watches on from the stands.Source:AAP
Gould pointed to the loss of Josh Reynolds, who will miss more than a month with a hamstring injury, as crucial to the Bulldogs short-term prospects, saying the half is as influential to Canterbury as North Queensland star Johnathan Thurston.
“Josh Reynolds is a big loss for the Bulldogs,” Gould said.
“They haven’t been without him since Round 25 in 2015, he’s their energy, he’s the fire in their team. He’d be hating watching this from the sidelines tonight.”
Gould agreed that the Bulldogs must address their halves-hooker combination immediately to have any hope of chasing the NRL title.
Hasler had been rotating both Michael Lichaa and Moses Mbye through the dummy-half role, but the Reynolds injury has also forced a change of plans there.
“They’ve been replacing that with Mbye in previous weeks,” Gould said.
“They start with Lichaa and go with Mbye and (Matt) Frawley comes off the bench. Reynolds is out tonight so they haven’t been able to make that change at the ruck. That’s enough to throw you on tilt a little bit.”
Former Canterbury forward Darryl Brohman was equally scathing in his criticism, saying the ruck combination must be drastically addressed.
“I don’t think they’ve (Bulldogs) been that good all year,” Brohman said on The Footy Show.
“Canterbury, the halves and their hooker are a massive problem for them.”
The Bulldogs lick their wounds post-game.Source:News Corp Australia
But the Cowboys had no such issues, as Michael Morgan put on a show in front of his State of Origin coach Kevin Walters.
Morgan set up four tries and scored the Cowboys’ other, as they put on their best attacking display in 14 games without Johnathan Thurston.
But it could have come at a cost, with Lachlan Coote assisted up the tunnel in the final minute with an apparent knee complaint in his return match from a calf injury.
Morgan’s performance could not have come at a better time for the five-eighth, a week-and-a-half out from the Maroons’ team announcement and with Walters watching in commentary.
Queensland bench utility Morgan has largely been forgotten in the debate surrounding who could replace Thurston (shoulder injury) at No.6 if he is ruled out of the State of Origin opener on May 31.
However, on Thursday night, Morgan put forward a case that he is just as capable as the likes of Anthony Milford and Daly Cherry-Evans.
His kicking game was sublime, three times he grubbered for tries while he also helped open the scoring for North Queensland with a pinpoint perfect cross-field boot for winger Kyle Feldt in the seventh minute.
Coen Hess was the biggest beneficiary of Morgan’s play, twice latching onto grubbers to score — the second rower now equal top of the NRL’s try-scorers list with eight.
Coen Hess of the Cowboys celebrates with team mates after scoring a try.Source:Getty Images
Morgan was also dangerous with ball in hand at ANZ Stadium, making the most of a massive territorial advantage to dance through two Canterbury defenders to score the visitors’ second try.
It marked just the first time the Cowboys had scored 30 points without their star playmaker Thurston since round 11, 2012.
They also did it without front-row powerhouse Matt Scott — who they have lost for the season with a knee injury — and put them back in the top eight, in place of Canterbury.
Meanwhile, the Bulldogs were virtually out of the match by halftime when they went to the sheds down 18-0.
They scored two second-half tries through winger Kerrod Holland — including one while Cowboys’ halfback Ray Thompson was sin-binned for repeated infringements on his own line.
Holland then brilliantly set up Danny Fualalo to score a sensational team try and reduce the margin to 10 with nine minutes to play.
However, when Morgan kicked home for Ben Spina to cross in the 75th minute, any faint hopes of a Canterbury comeback were over.
— AAP
Sport | news.com.au — Australia’s #1 news site
