BREAKING NEWS: Bulldogs Downed in Tough Contest with… Read More

It was a tough loss but one that Cameron Ciraldo’s men will certainly learn from, with the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs downed 34-22 against the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles at Accor Stadium.

The Bulldogs army stood up in support of their finals-bound side, with 35,502 overcoming Friday night traffic to cheer on the Blue and White.

The Bulldogs made a stunning opening when they shifted left from a tap restart and Matt Burton, Connor Tracey and Bronson Xerri combined before Josh Addo-Carr shrugged off two defenders and found Reed Mahoney backing up for a try in just the second minute.

On the back of a high tackle penalty against Viliame Kikau the Sea Eagles looked to have answered back in the ninth minute when Haumole Olakau’atu flew high to drag down a bomb but replays showed he had knocked the ball on in the contest.

Straight from the scrum play the Sea Eagles came up with a trick play and Olakau’atu combined with Reuben Garrick to send Jason Saab over in the corner and the scores were locked at 6-6.

Four minutes later the Sea Eagles had another when Olakau’atu got an offload away that went to ground but Luke Brooks toed the ball ahead and regathered before finding Tom Trbojevic in support for a 12-6 lead with Garrick’s conversion.

Slick lead-up by Brooks, Tom Trbojevic and Tommy Talau in the 19th minute set Lehi Hopoate up for a try before Addo-Carr hit back for the Bulldogs as both sides showed off their array of attacking skills.

A mistake by Xerri in the 31st minute handed Manly field position and Brooks came up with a peach of a pass to put Karl Lawton into space and the visitors took a 24-12 lead to the break.

Four minutes into the second half the Bulldogs got across the line through Kikau but the bunker ruled an obstruction on Olakau’atu and the try was ruled out.

A 40-20 kick by Daly Cherry-Evans in the 47th minute put Manly in the red zone but the Dogs held on before Brooks got the ball back with a one-on-one steal and Hopoate crossed for his second to put the Sea Eagles out by 18 points.