Canterbury face battle to avoid wooden spoon after hard-fought 18-16 loss to St George Illawarra
IN the end, it was a thrilling, hard-fought finish. But they still lost. Canterbury’s season is officially over — now it’s time to avoid rugby league’s most unwanted piece of silverware.
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YOUR season is officially over, Canterbury — now it’s time to avoid rugby league’s most unwanted piece of silverware.
A heartbreaking two-point loss to archrivals St George Illawarra has the brave Bulldogs staring down the barrel of the club’s sixth wooden spoon in 84 years.
Dean Pay’s men are only two points ahead of last-placed Parramatta with 11 rounds remaining this season.
Canterbury must forget their woeful 2018 campaign, dig deep and show pride in the famous blue and white jumper.
ACCEPTANCE: Mbye opens door for early exit
TOUGH: Dragons hold off Dogs to reclaim top spot
The wounded Dogs host the Gold Coast at their spiritual home, Belmore Oval, on Saturday afternoon.
This is the perfect chance for the Dogs to restore confidence following a forgettable season plagued by a salary cap drama and inconsistent results.
If Pay’s charges can’t fire up in front of the Belmore faithful, they might as well pack their bags for Bali now.
It’s that simple — show some heart or add a wooden spoon to the trophy cabinet.
Of course injuries to key players like Kieran Foran and Josh Morris hasn’t helped the Bulldogs, but excuses won’t cut it for the rest of the season.
To Canterbury’s credit, they put in a heap of effort against the Dragons in a match they easily could have won.
Prop David Klemmer was enormous backing up from Origin. Klemmer ran for a game-high 229 metres in a strong showing.
Tigers-bound fullback Moses Mbye was also outstanding. Mbye ran for 192 metres and looked dangerous every time he touched the football.
Brett Morris was equally impressive.
Morris showed his ageing legs still possess plenty of class and speed, while Adam Elliott was his usual workmanlike self.
We can’t forget skipper Josh Jackson, who ran for 108 metres in a brilliant performance.
The Dogs showcased admirable fight to surge back from an eight-point halftime deficit, but they lacked composure when it mattered most.
Despite the defeat, Canterbury can hold their heads high.
They displayed the type of energy to win games, which should help them avoid the spoon in the back end of the season.
Coach Pay was comforted by his team’s heart in yet another close lose.
“You take away the first 20 minutes and you’d say we’d come up with a win,” Pay said.
“That is encouraging for us, because we are getting better. Hopefully we put together 70 minutes next week and 80 minutes after that.
“We’ve been beaten by six or less five or six times I suppose. If we had jagged those we’d be a long way up the ladder.
“But at the moment, the reality is we are not.
“We’ve just got to keep working hard and getting better, and then hopefully we can get what we are looking for.”
Jackson echoed his coach’s thoughts, while he vowed to fight for the remainder of the season.
“I think the most frustrating part is the fact we know we can match it with the best teams,” Jackson said.
“But it’s a consistency thing for us.
“We fall in and out of games and that is something the top teams don’t do.”
St George Illawarra may have escaped with the win, but for long parts of the second half it looked like their customary mid-season choke was coming.
In the end, though, they held on to leave the dogged Bulldogs stranded near the bottom of the ladder.