‘No excuses’: Canterbury Bulldogs determined in the face of Covid-19 woes

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have been rocked by a Covid-19 outbreak ahead of their must-win clash with the Brisbane Broncos.

Joe Stimson says the Bulldogs have the chance to show what they’re made of by winning away from home with four players in Covid-19 isolation. Picture: Mark Metcalfe/Getty Images

A first-of-its-kind Covid-19 outbreak has threatened to tear through the Bulldogs’ ranks but the playing group says there are “no excuses” for coming home from Brisbane without a win in round seven.

When four players returned positive RATs on Wednesday, the Bulldogs became the first club this season forced to promote uncapped players to the first grade side in response to a Covid-19 outbreak.

Jake Averillo, Reece Hoffman, Brent Naden and Ava Seumanufagai are isolating with Covid-19, leaving the Bulldogs with 12 players unavailable for Friday’s clash with the Brisbane Broncos.

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Neither the Broncos nor Bulldogs have won in over a month and both will be equally desperate to lock up two competition points.

The odds are stacked against the decimated Bulldogs, but with a chance to hoist themselves off the bottom of the ladder, the side isn’t looking for excuses.

“It is a challenge, but we sort of knew all through the pre-season that we were going to have to face these times,” said forward Corey Waddell.

“We had contingencies in place to face them, too. We’ve got guys who are coming in to do a job.

“We’re going up there to win tomorrow. There are no excuses.”

Waddell says there’ll be no excuses for the Bulldogs if they fail to turn up on Friday night. Picture: Graham Denholm/Getty Images

The Bulldogs insist their preparation for the clash hasn’t been derailed by the outbreak.

“It’s been a normal training week, just with a few less people,” said forward Joe Stimson.

All players and staff underwent RATs on Thursday morning before their flight to Brisbane and all tested negative.

“There were a few nerves, but everyone passed with flying colours, thank God,” said Stimson.

They’re not out of the woods just yet, though; the Bulldogs will be subject to two more tests before they run out at Suncorp Stadium.

The Bulldogs confirmed the players struck down with Covid-19 were experiencing only minor symptoms but that all were shattered to be missing such a crucial clash.

“It’s pretty devastating,” said Waddell.

“For those guys to miss out on it, they’ll be very disappointed, but the guys that come in are going to do a good job.”

Former Panther Brent Naden is one of four Bulldogs players missing Friday’s game through Covid-19. Picture: Mark Kolbe/Getty Images

Stimson said the Bulldogs had the chance to show what they were made of by winning in the face of adversity.

“Every week there’s a challenge, but this one’s a little bit more of a challenge,” he said.

“It’s something that no one’s really experienced yet, so we’re pretty excited to weather it a bit and hopefully come back with the win.”