The Bulldogs fought hard but made confusing decisions, with their first wooden spoon since 2008 now an all but mathematical certainty.
Joseph Leilua finished with 10 busts and four offloads and he overcame an error in the opening set to crash over from a Jacob Liddle offload just four minutes into the match.
Some individual brilliance from Nick Meaney levelled the scores on the 10-minute mark as he dashed from dummy half before passing to a supporting Jake Averillo then backing up again to finish the try.
The Dogs had the final say of the half with a great angled run from Corey Waddell getting them back within six at the break.
A lovely catch-and-pass from Will Hopoate got Corey Allan over in the corner to get his side back within 10 points with 15 minutes to play.
That was as close as they got, with the final points of the contest again coming from another penalty goal from a Jack Hetherington infringement to seal the result.
Barrett said the Dogs had plenty of chances to win in the second half.
“Defensively we were good and then let ourselves down on last plays and also icing our own plays,” he said.
“But the errors we are making, they’re schoolboy errors, whether it’s concentration or lack of ill-discipline ones … we’re handing them possession.”
The Bulldogs next take on the Warriors on Sunday, August 15, from 2pm at Mt Smart Stadium in Auckland.
