Match Details
Match Date	17th Mar, 2017
Opponent	New Zealand Warriors
Result	Win 24-12
Coach	Des Hasler
Captain	James Graham
Venue	New Zealand (Forsyth Barr Stadium)
Crowd	10,238
Referee	Gavin Badger Jon Stone

Des Hasler hailed his battling Bulldogs side after they broke through for their first victory of the season, downing the Warriors in Dunedin.

The pressure on the Canterbury coach has been building since the end of last season, when his side lost their last four games to exit the finals without a whimper. Having lost their first two games of 2017, the Dogs were staring down the barrel of seven straight losses.

But a fighting display – the Dogs were still some way short of their best in attack but dug deep in defence – released the valve.

‘‘The players had to show a ton of courage and a ton of commitment, I thought our tryline defence was particularly good against some pretty potent players,’’ Hasler said. ‘‘Over the past few weeks this side has backed themselves defensively and been very tidy. They have copped their fair share of criticism, a lot of it’s been unfair, but they don’t let it worry them too much and it’s good to see them get the win.’’

The Bulldogs conceded five penalties and received none in the first 15 minutes – two for high shots – and as a result, spent the majority of the time defending. Eventually that took its toll and when yet another ball was kicked into the ingoal, Bodene Thompson opened the scoring in the 16th minute.

It was one-way traffic, but when the Bulldogs finally ventured into Warriors territory they struck. From 15 metres out, halfback Moses Mbye spotted an opening and a weak effort in defence from Sam Lisone left a big hole as he scooted through to score.

With two minutes to play in the first half, the Bulldogs hit again and grabbed the lead when a wellworked back line move had Warriors winger Ken Maumalo lost in defence and his opposite Brett Morris in the clear to run in the try for a 10-6 half-time lead.

Former Warriors under-20 sensation Brad Abbey was making his Bulldogs debut and he provided the Warriors with some momentum early in the second half when he fumbled a grubber kick close to his own line.

At the midway point in the half the Warriors finally turned their dominance into points when some nice interplay from Shaun Johnson and second-rower Thompson on the right edge put Johnson over.

He was successful with the kick to make it 12-10 to the Warriors.

That lead lasted just minutes as the Bulldogs found field position and a reverse pass from Brett Morris put debutant Marcelo Montoya in to score. As the Warriors looked for a late try to tie the match , Morris ended their hopes with his second try of the game.

Source: The Sydney Morning Herald

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