NRL 2024: Cowboys win 44-6 over Canterbury Bulldogs to claim home game for Finals Week 1

After boasting the NRL’s best defence a fortnight ago, the Bulldogs have now suffered heavy losses in back-to-back weeks, as the Cowboys blew them off the park to secure a home elimination final.

The Bulldogs’ finals credentials have come under question, after suffering another heavy defeat just a week before finals. Picture: NRL Imagery

The blue and white brigade might have to travel across the bridge next week after the Bulldogs coughed up a guaranteed home elimination final following a costly 44-6 loss to the Cowboys who will get to play in Townsville.

Accor Stadium has been a fortress for Canterbury all year but back-to-back losses to Manly and now the Cowboys means they’ll slide down to seventh by the end of the round if the Sea Eagles beat the Sharks.

It would mean they’d travel to 4 Pines Park with their season on the line against a Sea Eagles side that should welcome back Tom Trbojevic from injury, while a Cronulla win would mean the Bulldogs host Manly at Olympic Park in front of what should be a crowd of at least 60,000.

The Bulldogs’ finals credentials have come under question, after suffering another heavy defeat just a week before finals. Picture: NRL Imagery

They had another terrific crowd of 32,437 on Saturday but their loyal fans won’t save them next week if they continue to be bullied through the middle as they have been in their past two losses.

CLINICAL COWBOYS

They’ve been afraid to do the tough stuff at times this year, but the Cowboys saved their best defensive effort for their most important game and bullied the Bulldogs through the middle all night long.

Heilum Luki had one of the best games of his career with a try and four line-breaks as he and Tom Dearden combined brilliantly on the left, while fellow back-rower Jeremiah Nanai popped a magical inside ball for Scott Drinkwater to score on the stroke of half-time.

But coach Todd Payten will be most impressed by their defence which was awful against a weakened Storm side but showed it’s capable of standing up in the finals which begin for them next week against either the Dolphins or Knights.

The question is whether they can back it up for the next four weeks.

“I thought it was another mature performance,” Payten said.

“I thought that was the best our edges have defended all year on both sides.”

The Cowboys blew the Bulldogs off the park in arguably their best performance of the season. Picture: NRL Imagery

BURTO COME BACK

The Bulldogs will end their eight year finals drought, but it’s a horrible lead-in for the blue and whites whose fans started leaving midway through the second half as returning skipper Stephen Crichton suffered the heaviest loss of his NRL career.

None of their forwards ran for 100 metres while their outside backs rarely threatened with Josh Addo-Carr (ankle), Bronson Xerri (suspended) and Jeral Skelton (leg) all out.

But the man they really missed was five-eighth Matt Burton (head knock), with Drew Hutchison hooked at half-time after he offered little in attack and threw a pass that was intercepted by Kyle Feldt.

“There’s a lot of stuff that we need to fix pretty quickly before next week,” Cameron Ciraldo said.

“But what’s done is done now and a new competition starts next week and we deserve to be there.

“If we fix a couple of really simple things out of that performance, we’ll give ourselves a much better opportunity next week.”

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has a lot of work to do to get the Bulldogs back on track ahead of the finals. Picture: NRL Imagery

NERVOUS WAIT

Bulldogs fans will be hitting the refresh button every few seconds on Sunday morning as they wait to find out if Viliame Kikau is free to play next week.

They can’t afford to lose the premiership-winning edge forward who will provide crucial experience in the first week of the finals, but they face a nervous wait after he was placed on report in the first half for a late shot on Jake Clifford.

The Cowboys halfback was whacked after he passed the ball but got straight to his feet, with Kikau’s poor record set to earn him a three-match ban if he’s hit with a grade two charge, or just a fine if it’s a grade one.

Originally published as NRL 2024: Cowboys win 44-6 over Canterbury Bulldogs to claim home game for Finals Week 1