Match Details
Match Date	6th Jun, 2003
Opponent	Sydney Roosters
Result	Win 28-18
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Braith Anasta
Venue	Sydney Football Stadium
Crowd	17,136
Referee	Paul Simpkins

The Bulldogs unimpressive 28-18 win over the depleted Roosters side has once again been overshadowed by off-field controversy with the Roosters coach Ricky Stuart claiming they should have been awarded two penalty tries.

Speaking about a controversial moment early in the first half when Travis Norton from an offside position tackled Brad Fittler preventing what may have been a certain try, coach Ricky Stuart stated last night:

"It was a penalty try, the bloke came from an off-side position. There would have been no double movement in that play if the player hadn't come from that position.

"That's six points under the posts.

"The Eric Grothe try should have been a penalty try as well.

"I saw a Canterbury arm come in there and knock the ball out. From my first look at it, it was a penalty try," said Stuart.

Stuart may be right about the first incident, Fittler may have been a certainty to score, but Simpkins ruling was a judgement call that may or may not have been wrong based on a perception of whether the other defenders MIGHT have had a chance of stopping Fittler had Norton not been present.

Canterbury did not get off scott free, they were penalized through a penalty and also lost a man to the bin for ten minutes, which could have cost Canterbury more than one try. In fact the Roosters scored a try while Norton was in the bin.

I'm not going to overly criticize Stuart for questioning the first incident, but his statement regarding the second incident is bordering on extreme bias and bitterness. Attempting to reach out to score in the 2nd half, Eric Grothe Jr had the ball dislodged through Feeney attempting to make the tackle. The ball was not stripped, nor did Feeney's hand ever come into contact with the ball. All it does is reduces Stuart's credibility whenever he opens his mouth and is gaining a major reputation of blaming everyone but his team for their own faults.

Despite the earlier incidents the Roosters were on top and leading late in the second half. But Brad Fittler cost his side the lead when he threw an intercept pass to Braith Anasta allowing the Bulldogs to go four points ahead.

And in the final minutes, halfback Brett Finch cost his side any chance of going into golden point when he grubbered into the hands of Willie Mason, enabling the big forward to run 40 metres to score.

These are the two plays that cost the Roosters the match, not the match officials. They are two key incidents that Stuart didn't even remark on in his post match comments. All he was focused on was the fact his team was horribly unlucky and it was the match official's fault.

It's about time the NRL put Stuart into line for his continual complaints about match officials. Apparently he seems to have a licence to do it every week when other coaches get slapped with a $10,000 fine before finishing their sentences.

Leading 2-0 early with Norton in the bin, the Roosters went ahead 8-0 when Glen Hughes made a poor decision to kick for outside men with the Bulldogs attacking the line. Hughes had several unmarked teammates on the outside but kicked over the top only to have the ball charged down by Fittler who re-collected the ball and ran 80 metres to score the opening try.

Eight minutes later the Bulldogs of old finally clicked into gear laying on their first try off their own bat in 5-6 halves of football. Some quick passing saw Luke Patten find a hole, he drew the fullback and put Sherwin under the posts.

From the kick off the Bulldogs Ben Harris broke the line and ran 70 metres up field. The ball was then passed across to the other wing where Jamie Feeney found space to score in the corner. El Masri's sideline conversion saw the Bulldogs ahead 12-8 in only a matter of minutes after being behind 8-0.

The Bulldogs newly found confidence and dominance continued, culminating in a Nigel Vagana try just three minutes before halftime. Attacking the line Corey Hughes put up a cross field bomb which was not defused by the Roosters back men, with Nigel Vagana scooping on the loose ball to score.

Ahead 16-8 at halftime the Bulldogs were looking to turn around their season of second half horrors. But any ideas of a turn around were shattered by two early mistakes in their own half leading to Brett Finch's try in the 46th minute. Fittler grubbered through for his halfback, with Finch scoring under the posts.

Eight minutes later, Grothe was over in the corner to put the Roosters ahead 18-16.

The Roosters led by the two points until the Anasta intercept in the 65th minute that turned the game in the Bulldogs favour.

Despite Stuart's outburst, his young players did themselves proud by putting in a more than competitive performance. Fittler was the best player on the park despite his match turning intercept in the 65th minute.

For the Bulldogs key players Anasta, Mason, Utai, Norton and Sherwin all stood up with better performances. Anasta was particularly impressive, taking more of a leadership role in general team tactics and kicking. Other players such as Jamie Feeney and Corey Hughes had their best games of the season.

Speaking after the match Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes was happy with the result, but wasn't ready to claim his team had turned the corner just yet.

"Anything would be an improvement on last week," Folkes said, referring to his side's embarrassing 20-14 loss to Wests in round 13.

"I guess we showed some reasonable fighting qualities to come back from a deficit a couple of times.

"There's nothing wrong with our spirit. There's nothing wrong with our commitment. Mentally we have been a bit flat."

Despite the win the Bulldogs would have really struggled against a full strength Roosters side, and still have a lot of work to do to become a force again.

Source: www.rleague.com

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