Match Details
Match Date	15th Jun, 2003
Opponent	Manly
Result	Win 34-20
Coach	Steven Folkes
Captain	Steve Price
Venue	Sydney Showground Homebush
Crowd	8,403
Referee	Steve Clark

Resting players is a luxury but Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes had no hesitation in pulling utility Travis Norton from the field once yesterday's game against Manly was in hand.

Nor did Folkes hesitate when confronted with the comment from State of Origin selector Bob McCarthy that too many Bulldogs tries were scored from kicks.

"He can do his job and I can do mine," said Folkes, after his side had scored three of its six tries from Braith Anasta and Brent Sherwin kicks.

Norton has been touted as a possible Queensland State of Origin player but selectors will need to be convinced that his troublesome right hamstring will survive the intensity of an Origin clash.

Yesterday, Norton, who played two Origin matches last year, was impressive, even though he was on the field for only 50 minutes.

"I wasn't thinking about Queensland, I was focused on us getting back-to-back wins," he said. "I think my form started slowly this season but at the moment I feel happy with how it is going. The hamstring hasn't stopped me and I just came off as a precautionary thing."

Norton started with a booming tackle on Manly bad boy John Hopoate and had a couple of darting runs from dummy half.

Hopoate will find out today how much he will be fined after playing fifth-grade rugby union last week, in breach of his contract. Manly chairman Paul Vautin, chief executive Ian Thomson and media manager Peter Peters will meet the controversial winger and his manager and demand an explanation of why he initially denied his involvement in the rugby match.

"I do have an issue with it - sometimes his brain snaps," said Manly coach Peter Sharp.

Yesterday Hopoate was subdued but so were most of his teammates much of the time, the only exception halfback Ben Walker.

Manly's sole spark came when they were down 22-6 early in the second half. With nothing to lose they started throwing the ball around, targeting a perceived weakness on the right-hand side of the field.

Two quick tries followed to fullback Kevin McGuinness and winger Scott Donald and suddenly the Sea Eagles were within eight points.

Folkes said afterwards that finally some of his players were finding some "reasonable" form.

Nigel Vagana was brilliant in defence, twice cutting down runaway Manly attackers to save tries. Anasta took the ball up to the opposition a lot more and Hazem El Masri, apart from his solid five goals, was back to his trademark sidestepping best. Forward Tony Grimaldi scooted around the defence to score a try in his first-grade return from a major knee reconstruction.

Vagana's rediscovery of form may have something to do with a softening in approach by Bulldogs management about his future contract.

The Kiwi centre will meet Folkes today to try to work through a sticking point in staying with the Bulldogs - the club helping him find post-football work as an architect.

Folkes said he could see a number of positives from the match. "Our defence is much better than it has been and we controlled proceedings until that period in the second half when we let things slip," he said.

Queensland forward Steve Price had a solid game despite backing up from the Origin clash and said he had been inspired by Friday night's game between Newcastle and St George because many of the Origin players had only had a day to recover.

"I was a bit low after Origin because it was such a big [emotional] week . . . but when I trained yesterday with the team the enthusiasm was there," he said.

Manly's McGuinness suffered a leg injury in the final minutes of the game after he collided with signage perilously close to the deadball line.

Source: www.smh.com.au

LINE UP