NRL 2022: Jake Averillo set to get nod to partner Matt Burton in halves for Bulldogs’ opening match
There is no bigger fan of Jake Averillo than his skipper Josh Jackson and the veteran reckons the Bulldogs are onto something good by confirming the young gun in the No.7 jersey.
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Canterbury captain Josh Jackson has urged halfback Jake Averillo to unleash his running game as the Bulldogs prepare to partner the No. 7 with star recruit Matt Burton when the club opens its premiership campaign on Sunday night.
Jackson has been a fan of Averillo for some time, having sung his praises when he presented the young half with his jersey before his first-grade debut two years ago. At the time, Jackson said he had never seen a more talented player at that age emerge from the Canterbury system.
Since then, Averillo has been an ever-present in the team in a variety of positions and he will head into the premiership opener against North Queensland with the prized No. 7 on his back after fending off the challenge of Kyle Flanagan and Brandon Wakeham.
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“Jake Averillo will start the year for us,” Jackson said.
“He has spent the whole pre-season there – he has been really good. He doesn’t have to do anything other than what we want him to do, which is run the footy and communicate.
“He is another one who has so much ability, so much natural talent. I guess first and foremost he is a threat with the footy – he is a runner, he is strong.
“All the good sevens are a threat – they are a running threat – and that is his best quality.”
Jackson made no secret of his admiration for Averillo when he was filmed presenting the half with his jersey before his first grade debut in 2020 – that game was also against North Queensland.
Averillo started on the interchange bench that day but he has seemingly found a home in the halves – he started at halfback in 12 of the 21 games he played last year.
He has played alongside a succession of five-eighths over the past two years but the hope is that Burton’s arrival at the club will mean the Bulldogs can finally bed down a set of halves capable of turning around their fortunes.
“Him and Jake will share that responsibility, but we don’t expect either of those guys to do more than what their job is,” Jackson said.
“We are all there to play our role – we don’t want to put too much pressure on them.
“(Burton) has been very impressive. I guess fundamentally he is a great person. He is pretty quiet – he is your typical country bloke and he is very calm.
“I guess that is what makes him. Good player on the field. He is very talented.”
On Burton, forward Luke Thompson added: “You can see it straight away – he has that natural speed and is a natural footy player.
“Us forwards just need to lay a platform so he can get some good ball.”
The Bulldogs will name a side littered with new faces for the opening game of the season and it has one of their most loyal servants licking his lips at what lies ahead.
Jackson started his career at Canterbury during a period of success but has endured precious-little of it in recent seasons. The hope is that they can quickly turn it around and the club can challenge for a premierships sooner rather than later.
“Before I finish I want to win a premiership,” Jackson said.
“We haven’t won one since 2004. So it has been a long time. I think Canterbury fans, we want to get the club back to how it was when we were expected to be one of the top tier teams.
“That is where we want to get too. That is the goal, that is the dream. I am going to keep goings long as I can. But I would love to win one I the next couple of years.”
Bulldogs enforcer vows to cut out the ‘carry-on’
-Michael Carayannis
His aggression won’t change but Bulldogs firebrand Tevita Pangai Jr has vowed to remove his “carry on” in time for Canterbury’s round-one clash as he concedes he has become a marked man.
Pangai Jr came under fire following his first-up outing in Canterbury colours last Monday, where he was put on report and sin-binned against the Sharks.
While he escaped sanction from the match-review committee, he drew criticism from a host of experts. Braith Anasta said he “lost the plot” while Greg Alexander believed Pangai Jr “was on a mission to get sent off”. Coach Trent Barrett told him he had to be smart.
Pangai Jr has taken the criticism on board.
“I can keep my aggression but the carry-on needs to go,” Pangai Jr said.
“If I make a strong tackle I need to leave it like that. I can’t talk back to the ref.
“I can understand the ex-players opinions. They are warranted – they did what they did in the game so I will take their comments on board.
“I need to earn the respect of my teammates and the coaching staff, the people in our four walls. What I took away from Monday night, is the carry-on needs to go.
“If I get sin-binned just get straight off. There is no talking back to the ref. If I make a good tackle, just leave it at that.
“I am glad it happened in the trials. I can learn from it.
“Hopefully this year I am a lot more team first and take what I’ve learnt from Penrith and bring it here. It’s easy to fix and in my control.”
Pangai Jr watched the incidents back straight after Monday’s game and felt confident there would be no further sanction. He does however understand that his lengthy judiciary charge sheet means any small indiscretion will sideline him for an extended period.
Pangai Jr was charged twice last year, including a three-week stint on the sideline for a crusher tackle.
“I have a reputation and a record,” Pangai Jr said. “I need to be extra careful about where I put my aggression. My aggression should be with the ball.”
Blocker: Don’t muzzlee Bulldogs’ fiery beast
By Paul Crawley
One of rugby league’s toughest ever enforcers has come out swinging in defence of under-fire Canterbury Bulldogs recruit Tevita Pangai Jr.
And Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach not only reckons one of the modern game’s most maligned forwards is ready for State of Origin but declared: “I’d like to have him in my team.”
It comes after Pangai Jr copped huge criticism for his brain snaps in the Bulldogs’ disappointing trial loss to Cronulla. The big forward was put on report twice during the match and also got a spell in the sin bin, while he was lucky to escape a charge from the match review panel.
But rather than calling for him to curb his aggression, Roach reckons that is exactly what Pangai Jr needs to keep if he is going to take his career to the next level this year.
And the former Balmain and NSW tough guy did not hesitate when asked if Pangai could push his way into the Blues team this year.
“I do (think he is ready for Origin),” Roach said. “They were talking about him two years ago. But the best bloke to sit down and talk to him is Phil Gould (Bulldogs general manager of football).
“He played with a lot of blokes that sailed close to the wind. But I wouldn’t like to see him lose his aggressiveness. Just use it in a different way.
“All the do-gooders in the game now say, ‘You can’t do this, you can’t do that’.
“But I want aggressive blokes in my side.”
Roach said he would like to see the Bulldogs move Pangai Jr into the middle instead of playing him on the edge. And he even pointed out he would sit Pangai Jr down to watch game tapes of Roosters veteran enforcer Jared Waerea-Hargreaves and Penrith’s hard man James Fisher-Harris go about their trade.
“You need blokes that live on the edge,” Roach said. “Hargreaves has learned to live on the edge. Look at Fisher-Harris and how he plays. If he doesn’t live on the edge he isn’t doing what he is supposed to do.
“He is an intimidator.
“So what I would do is sit down with my teammates and my coach and say, ‘what do you guys actually want from me?’ The poor bloke is at the stage now where we are all talking about him because of the way he goes at it.
“But he has got to intimidate the opposition.”
Roach was no choirboy in his day, although he reckons he was sinbinned more times than sent off. One of his most famous incidents came when he patted referee Eddie Ward on the head after he was dismissed while his brawl with Les Davidson was legendary.
Roach says in the heat of battle it is easy to lose your head for just that split second.
He said: “It is easy to say that (play with more discipline), but when you get fired up … I don’t want lovely blokes in my team. I like blokes who get fired up. You don’t want lovely blokes.
“I’m not saying he has done the right thing (on Monday night) but I am a big fan. I know he has to curb it and I agree with all that sort of stuff. But you’ve got to stay aggressive.”
Be patient, Bulldogs’ chemistry will take time
By Dean Ritchie
Canterbury chairman John Khoury has urged passionate yet concerned Bulldogs fans to be “patient and supportive” but refused to offer excuses for his side’s 30-6 trial match loss to Cronulla.
Amid increasing expectation and hype, the new-look Bulldogs stepped out for the first time on Monday night to be whacked five tries to one.
While it was a trial, and most stars were rested throughout the second half, social media went into meltdown questioning Canterbury’s promised new dawn.
Punters also jumped off, the loss prompting an immediate change to the TAB betting markets with the Bulldogs drifting from $23 to $26 to win the premiership.
And in the club’s round one game against North Queensland in Townsville, Canterbury moved in betting from $1.73 to $1.80 with the Cowboys tightening from $2.10 into $2.
Star recruit Tevita Pangai Jnr was sin-binned during the trial — and placed on report twice — but avoided being charged by the NRL match-review committee. He was in trouble for a striking incident and high tackle.
Speaking about the loss, an honest and open Khoury said: “There are a lot of expectations but the big thing is we need to be supportive and be patient with the staff and players.
“It was a trial. That’s not an excuse but that is why you have trials, so you can shake off those cobwebs and be ready for round one.
“It will come down to playing together and the chemistry. You build that chemistry. All good things take time. I’m not saying it’s going to take a long time but it is chemistry that has to be built by players playing together.
“We’re not going to make excuses – it was disappointing – but the good news is that I’m glad it happened in a trial and not in round one.
“Look at the Penrith-Parramatta trial (Eels won 36-0). I’m not making any comparisons here but you’re talking about the grand final side who will still, arguably, be in the top two or three sides.
“Our fans are passionate and are thirsty for success. It’s been a long time and our club has been in the bottom cellar for a while. I totally understand (any frustrations). But for some of our players … that was their first trial against a real opposition.
“They have had that experience now. They will go into camp and I’m very confident they will be ready for round one. There has been a lot of hard work that has gone into this pre-season. It is a happy camp.”
The Bulldogs missed 20 tackles against Cronulla, committed nine errors (the Sharks made 13) and conceded nine penalties, according to Fox Sports Stats.
“There were a lot of handling errors and penalties, so just poor discipline,” Khoury said.
“To compete in a game of rugby league in the modern era, you need to play error-free footy, be disciplined and reduce your penalties. Everyone needs to do their job, in terms of each player has to at least reduce the amount of errors.
“If we reduce our errors and play more disciplined footy then we will be right. The focus now is improved discipline.”
Canterbury faces a horrid draw over the opening eight games, playing North Queensland, Brisbane, Manly, Melbourne, Penrith, Souths, Brisbane and then the Roosters.
“Sometimes these challenges are what brings out the best in individuals and teams,” Khoury said. “We will get that opportunity, no doubt.”
The TAB’s Gerard Daffy added: “Canterbury were at a very cautious $23 since the market first went up in September.
“Most agree Canterbury could be the big movers up the ladder this year. But that trial loss does raise a couple of question marks and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cowboys ended up starting favourites in round one.”
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