Match Details
Match Date	2nd Aug, 2018
Opponent	Brisbane
Result	Win 36-22
Coach	Dean Pay
Captain	Josh Jackson
Venue	Homebush (ANZ Stadium)
Crowd	6,434
Referee	Ben Cummins Peter Gough

Canterbury buried the wooden spoon and finals-bound Brisbane last night as the Dogs of War proved their was plenty of life left in the strife-torn club.

The Bulldogs started fast and hung tough in a 36-22 win at ANZ Stadium.

Victory moves the Bulldogs to 14 competition points, four clear of last placed Parramatta with four games remaining and a far superior for-and-against.

The match wasn't without controversy, though, with a Canterbury trainer alleged to have approached match officials at halftime and demanded: "Why don't you ref fairly.

" An NRL spokesman said last night "We will look into any comments that were made.

" It is understood the drama erupted after Bulldogs centre Josh Morris took a quick tap and scored, only to be pulled back by referee Ben Cummins.

Asked was he aware of the incident, Bulldogs coach Dean Pay said: "I haven't heard anything about it."

Television vision showed Brisbane forward Josh McGuire pulling Bulldogs forward Adam Elliott's hair during the second half. He could be charged today by the NRL match review committee.

In the end it didn't matter as Canterbury jumped out to a 14-0 lead, withstood a first-half Broncos fightback and went on with it in the second 40 minutes to give their suffering fans a major boost.

Canterbury's big win leaves three teams to fight out the wooden spoon — Manly and North Queensland (both 12 points) and Parramatta (10).

There was some razzle dazzle by the Doggies last night which evoked memories of Ted Glossop's 1980 Entertainers. Steve Mortimer, captain of that famous team, was watching.

Despite the on-field excitement, Canterbury still looked structured and put together some, lovely set plays, particularly down the short side. Canterbury's first back-to-back win of the year are a tes-tament to the resolve shown by rookie Pay.

Two burn-offs in Sydney last night meant the game started under a blanket of smoke. It could also have been because Canterbury were on fire. "We are getting a little bit of confidence out of each and every performance we are putting in. We're delighted with the result, that's for sure," Pay said.

"We have been building to-wards getting more consistency in our footy. We just keep progressing and getting better and better each week.

"The boys played really well, I'm really happy with them. We've got some young guys there who are developing into good players and they will continue to do that. That's where we're at at the moment."

With a top-four spot and coach Wayne Bennett's 400th win to play for, Brisbane were flat. "I'm extremely disappointed," said Bennett, describing the loss as "rubbish".

"They had all the enthusiasm and energy, we were just lacking in those areas. Our problem is we get two or three good weeks of football and then we throw one of these games in. I can't tell you why it happens.

Source: The Daily Telegraph

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