Canterbury can remarkably still make the NRL finals: Here’s how
Don’t look now, Canterbury fans, but the Bulldogs can still make the finals. They have to keep winning — and they need a little help from their friends — but here’s how it could happen.
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Canterbury’s NRL top eight hopes remain alive following their spirited 12-6 upset of Parramatta along with a pair of upsets in Friday night football.
North Queensland’s upset of Penrith and South Sydney’s hard fought victory over Brisbane has remarkably kept the Bulldogs in contention for the finals.
Dean Pay’s men showed their rebuild has come a long way over the last few months as they moved to within two points of eight-placed Cronulla.
Should the Dogs win their final two games against the Cowboys and Brisbane, and nine other results run their way, by way of a minor miracle they would find themselves in the finals.
They were $51 with bookmaker TAB to make the top eight leading into Round 23.
But a multibet of the remaining 11 results the Bulldogs need to go their way to feature in September is worth a mouth-watering $773 for a $1 investment.
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After outlasting the Eels, the Bulldogs could rightly be considered one of the form teams of the competition.
Kieran Foran continues his remarkable resurgence and looks injury free for the first time in a long time, Dylan Napa had arguably his best game in several years with 166 metres, Josh Jackson was his usual tireless self while Will Hopoate was brilliant running for a game-high 205 metres.
Their only losses in the last two months have come against Brisbane and the Sydney Roosters.
According to the TAB, one extremely optimistic customer placed $5 on Canterbury to win the premiership at $501 on Friday morning.
While Pay refuses to put a timeline on when he expects the proud club to be back in the finals, he said he felt like they had turned a corner.
“They care about one another and they’re building a lot of team spirit,” Pay said.
“We want to be a top four team and however long that takes it takes.
“Once we get there we want to be a consistent top four footy team. We need to get a lot of things in place. It’s not going to happen overnight but over the last month things are starting to turn for us.”
HOW BULLDOGS CAN MAKE NRL FINALS
The 11 results which would need to go Canterbury’s way for them to qualify for the finals
ROUND 23
* North Queensland beat Penrith at odds of $2.25 TICK
* South Sydney beat Brisbane at $2.05 TICK
* Warriors beat Cronulla at $3.10
* Newcastle beat Wests Tigers at $1.70
ROUND 24
* Parramatta beat Brisbane at $2.35
* Sydney Roosters beat Penrith at $1.20
* Canberra beat Cronulla at $1.73
* St George Illawarra beat Wests Tigers at $1.80
ROUND 25
* Canberra beat Warriors at $1.25
* Wests Tigers beat Cronulla at $2
* Newcastle beat Penrith at $1.45
Total TAB multibet odds: $773
LISTEN! In this week’s episode of the Matty Johns Podcast, Matty, Kenty and Finchy look at the challenge confronting the Knights, name their team of the decade and ask who wins an NRL coaches fight night.
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