Match Details
Match Date	3rd Jul, 2010
Opponent	Cronulla
Result	Win 24-12
Coach	Kevin Moore
Captain	Andrew Ryan
Venue	Gosford (Bluetongue Stadium)
Crowd	9,826
Referee	Jason Robinson Alan Shortall

The Bulldogs are confident Ben Barba is capable of displaying in first grade the dynamic flair and skill that has made him one of the most talented players in the NRUs under 20 competition.

The five-eighth last night showed his hand in the opening three minutes with a 40-20 kick that set the foundations for Blake Green's try, he chopped down Sharks attackers who tried to target the defensive deficiencies that plagued his earlier forays into the top grade, he scored two 50-metre tries - one which required him to step Sharks speed merchant Nathan Gardner - and finished with a tick of approval from his coach. "The last two weeks have been a chance for him to step up and show he can play 80 minutes and I think he still has a few things to learn and we'll work through that over the coming weeks," said coach Kevin Moore. "You can see that he's feeling comfortable within himself."

While Moore acknowledged Barba struggled towards the end of the game - and he said that was due to him still getting used to the top grade - Barba admitted be had not allowed himself to get caught up in all the excitement.

He said he was benefiting from playing outside of Brett Kimmorley, who played a masterful halfback's game last night with precision kicking and clever passes.

"He makes my job much easier than it should be," Barba beamed. "I'm really just taking the glory out on the back of things while he's doing all the hard work around the ruck.”

Barba is doing all he can to establish himself as a top liner after it was revealed the Bulldogs had recruited halves Kris Keating from Parramatta and Trent Hodkinson from Manly to join them next season. Ben Roberts, another talented player on the Bull-dogs' books, is also in the mix.

"It's a luxury for the club to have any number of quality players  particularly in key positions, so I think talking to everyone - and both Bens - they see it as a positive and we'll worry about it next year," said Moore.

The Bulldogs displayed the club's defensive crunch to shut Cronulla out of the game, especially in the opening half.

One player who revelled in the heavy work was Jamal Idris, who was shunted from the centres to back row to get his hands on the ball a lot more and to add some aggression in defence.

Idris, who represented Australia in discus at the Youth Olympics, looked like Hercules in the 16th minute when he charged onto a pass from lock David Stagg.

He seemed to skip after catching the ball before accelerating like a semi-trailer with no brakes and smashing through the four Sharks defenders.

"I enjoyed myself," said Idris of his stint in the scrum. "I think he (Moore] just wanted (me) to match the Sharks and give a bit more go forward.

"I think my style of play is different than most centres - I just get the ball, put my head down and sprint."

Idris, who turns 20 on Wednesday, said he would be happy to remain in the thick of the action for the rest of the season if that was Moore thought was best for the team.

Ricky Stuart rued three errors - a poor play-the-ball, a bad miss and a charge down - that turned into an 12-point punishment. "At  half-time we had a big decision to make," Stuart said of a game that could easily have finished a massacre. We could either take an attitude into the second half. I basically asked the question are you going to make this a respectable score line or are you going to go out and have a fight? I'm really thankful they keep trying ... They keep punching away."

Stuart and stand-in skipper Luke Douglas said their team's  performance had been affected by winger Blake Ferguson revealing in yesterday's he would initiate a "get-out" clause at season's end.

Source: The Sun Herald

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