Match Details
Match Date	28th Jul, 2002
Opponent	Newcastle
Result	Win 22-21
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Steve Price
Venue	Newcastle (EnergyAustralia Stadium)
Crowd	24,686
Referee	Sean Hampstead

"Don't quote him!" Bulldogs captain Steve Price said, motioning to club president Barry Nelson. "He's putting pressure on us, comparing it to '98."

Nelson just chuckled.

He had described yesterday's win by his beloved Dogs as the best since the line-up that repeatedly impersonated Houdini and other great escape artists to qualify for the first NRL grand final.

One thing went unchallenged even among rugby league conservatives such as Price; the Bulldogs' 22-21 win over Newcastle before 24,686 fans at EnergyAustralia Stadium was the finest game seen this year - easily.

The facts need no embellishment: the Bulldogs were shooting for their 16th win in a row, they trailed 19-0 at half-time and scored a try in the right corner in the dying seconds to trail 21-20.

Winger Hazem El Masri, in his club record-equalling 95th consecutive game, was left to win the match and keep the chase for 19 wins in a row alive with a sideline conversion. Novocastrians were screaming in his ear from just a few feet away.

After a long preparation, El Masri kicked. The ball lifted, set course for the right upright and, at just the right time, it drifted in. Players embraced and leapt in the air. "To win so many games in a row, you sort of forget how to lose," five-eighth Braith Anasta said.

Underneath this simple but compelling piece of drama was a multitude of sub-plots.

Young Knights winger Neil Sweeney was a forlorn figure after spilling a kick which went straight to him in the 79th minute, Dogs fullback Luke Patten scoring the try which allowed El Masri to fulfil a childhood dream.

Thirty-six minutes earlier, Sweeney tackled El Masri without the ball and there was no penalty. Karma?

Knights skipper Andrew Johns kicked a field goal just before half-time with his side ahead 18-0 - a feat completely unexpected but which was nearly made to look like a stroke of genius by later events.

Hunter Valley-raised Todd Polglase, pitched into the starting side at the last minute for his first grade debut, snared the second try of the Dogs' comeback. Another Newcastle product, wild-haired prop Willie Mason, scored the first.

Anasta's kick gave winger Matt Utai the third Bulldog touchdown, El Masri's kick hitting the post. That made it 21-16 with 12 minutes to go, but the gods weren't finished just yet.

Bulldogs second-rower Steve Reardon claimed a try in the 74th minute in a position which would have given El Masri an easy conversion. There were agonising replays while video referee Mick Stone ascertained whether hooker Corey Hughes had been offside when he regathered a Brent Sherwin kick.

When the 'No try' signal came up, those Dogs fans with little faith began heading for the freeway.

Bulldogs director George Coorey wasn't one of them. "I told them at the end, 'the kick will go over'," he said. "He's got ice in his veins - he's Lebanese."

Coach Steve Folkes said: "I thought we pretty much outplayed them in the second half and we probably deserved to win.

"Any side that gives Newcastle 19 points start at home and gets up is probably doing OK."

Newcastle's lead was built on tries by Johns, fullback Kurt Gidley and winger John Morris. After his brother, Dogs CEO Bob Hagan, "gloated" for a little while, Knights coach Michael Hagan went to the post-match media conference and said: "That'll bring the crowds back, that game. It was fantastic. It couldn't have been closer or more nail-biting."

For the record, during the 1998 play-offs, the Bulldogs game back from 12-0 down to beat St George 20-12; 16-0 behind to overcome Newcastle 28-16; and 18-2 down with 11 minutes to go to eliminate Parramatta 32-20 in extra time.

The scores were levelled at the end of regulation time when Daryl "Chook" Halligan landed a sideline conversion. "I was there when Chook kicked it and I saw the reaction from everyone," El Masri said. "It's a dream come true."

But to borrow a phrase, Price is right. In all likelihood, there will be no lasting comparison between the '98 Bulldogs and this year's model - because in 1998, they didn't win the competition.

Source: www.smh.com.au

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