Canterbury desperate to get points on the board to save their season

With one of the least experienced sides in the NRL, Canterbury are desperately trying to teach their young pups some new tricks in a bid to breathe some life into their season.

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The old Dogs at Canterbury are desperately trying to teach the young pups some new tricks in a bid to breathe some life into their season.

Fullback Nick Meaney told The Daily Telegraph veteran campaigners at Belmore have started laying down the law at training, pushing the young side to lift its standards.

“That’s the whole purpose of playing footy, to win games. Our experienced guys like Will Hopoate, they want to win, that’s what they are here for …. they demand winning,” Meaney said.

“And that starts to put a bit of pressure of the rest of us to start winning games, just competing in games isn’t enough anymore.”

The Bulldogs entered the season as the least experienced side in the competition, with an average of 50 games per player and an average age of just 22.

Skipper and 163 game veteran, Josh Jackson, said the lack of experience posed a unique challenge.

“We have to teach the younger guys coming through what it means to be first grader,” he said.

“We have to make sure every time we come to training we have a mentality that we want to improve and we want to get better.

“You train the way the way you play and that’s something we have tried to teach the younger guys. The habits you create during the week will translate into your performance on the weekend.”

Meaney is taking in all the advice he gets. Image: AAP Image/Hamish Blair

Meaney, 21, is one of the rookies who has been a recipient of such lessons.

“If someone makes a mistake, our captain Jacko, he’s right on to it and not accepting things like that,” Meaney said.

“He is constantly telling me to be demanding and be bossy, as a fullback you have to tell people where to go and be that loud voice for everyone.”
According to Jackson, Canterbury have ‘no choice’ but to start winning or face the possibility of the proud club’s first wooden spoon in 11 years.

The last time the Bulldogs finished last was back in 2008, when they only managed five wins for the entire season.

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Currently last with only one win from six games, captain Josh Jackson conceded time is running out for his side to avoid a similar fate.

“Absolutely we do have the team to avoid the spoon. We have the team that can compete with the best team in the competition,” he said.

“We played Melbourne a few weeks ago and we didn’t get the result but we tested them and they’re the benchmark team.

“We have put together a few good performances that haven’t translated to us winning games.

“But we’re at the stage now where we need to start getting results.”

You wouldn’t want to get on the wrong side of Josh Jackson. Image: Brendon Thorne/Getty Images

The Bulldogs have what can be a considered a soft run coming up.

Tonight’s clash is against North Queensland, who are 13th on the ladder. Followed by Manly (7th), Newcastle (15th) and the Gold Coast (11th).

Meaney said his side has discussed the significance of capitalising on a favourable draw before then having to take on the competition ladder leaders the Storm, Sydney Roosters and Canberra in the space of four weeks.

“We’ve got a couple of teams coming up that we can challenge and hopefully come away with the win. You don’t want to look too far down the track but the next couple of weeks will be important for us,” he said.