The celebration of Kieran Foran’s 200th outing and return from injury, saw the Dogs have a slow start but spring into the lead at half-time, 10-2, after a couple of Nick Meaney penalty goals.
Canterbury were struggling early with their attack but Coach Dean Pay must have alerted them to the space on the right edge of the Dragons’ defence at halftime because they experienced plenty of success down there in the second half.
Meaney helped himself to more points after the break, on the end of Canterbury’s slickest play of the day when Foran, Lachlan Lewis and Will Hopoate combined from close range for a 16-2 advantage before bringing home the bacon.
The 22-2 win will surely ease pressure on coach Pay who said after the match: “It was a better performance; we needed to improve off the back of last week and we did that tonight.”
“We completed 22 from 23 in the second half so that says something,” he said.
“Kieran played really well, he lifted us and he’s helping our young boys along; he did his job really well.”
Bulldogs Captain Josh Jackson said: “It was a great effort by everyone. I thought our middle blokes were fantastic.”
Lachlan Lewis added: “It was a tough game but we ended up doing well with our completions. It we can get equal possession, we can stay in the game.”
The Bulldogs next face off against the Roosters this Sunday at Bankwest Stadium from 4.05pm.
Must win pays off
MUSTERING up plenty of bark, the Canterbury Bulldogs are out of the gate, scoring their first win of 2020 to leave St George Illawarra on their own at the foot of the NRL ladder.