Jake Averillo scored two sensational long-range tries as a depleted Bulldogs condemned the Dragons to their fourth straight loss in an 18-16 cliffhanger at WIN Stadium on Sunday.
Averillo, who chalked up a brace for the third straight game against St George Illawarra, tormented Dragons fullback Tyrell Sloan with both tries coming from beyond 80 metres out in one of the club’s best backs-to-the-wall wins in recent history.
Missing up to seven players considered in their top 17, Cameron Ciraldo’s side snapped a three-match losing run to further cloud Anthony Griffin’s future at the Dragons.
On the ladder, St George Illawarra are ahead of just the Cowboys and last-placed Tigers, who they meet in Magic Round next weekend.
Averillo proved the difference as he scored two of the most entertaining tries of the season with the Bulldogs surviving Corey Waddell’s second-half sin-binning for a professional foul on Zac Lomax.
Max Feagai scored a minute later with the Bulldogs down to 12 men, but the Bulldogs kept the Dragons at bay for the final 20 minutes.
Jake Averillo celebrates one of his two long-range tries with Bulldogs teammates.Credit: Getty
Dragons captain Ben Hunt attempted a last-gasp two-point field goal, but his attempt fell well short of the posts and the Queensland State of Origin representative was in discomfort with a knee problem as a result.
On the same day the Bulldogs handed an NRL debut to 18-year-old Karl Oloapu, the club proved there is a bright future ahead for their long-suffering fans.
Out the back of the old southern grandstand at WIN Stadium, each hobbled Bulldogs player passed by onto the training field to watch the warm-up. Josh Addo-Carr, Luke Thompson, Max King, Ryan Sutton, Jacob Kiraz, and that’s not to speak of Viliame Kikau et al.
But Cameron Ciraldo refuses to let his team find excuses, and the day before this game he got them together to watch the Bulldogs in the Harold Matthews Cup grand final, and made sure they travelled as one to Wollongong afterwards.
Ben Hunt.Credit: Getty
They’re certainly playing like a team who have each other’s backs, and the Dragons looked like one still carrying an emotional hangover from an Anzac Day effort in which they emptied the tank.
It has been years since Josh Reynolds truly tormented an NRL referee, but he wound back the clock on Sunday.
After being penalised for a shot on a grounded Tyrell Sloan minutes before half-time, the veteran Bulldogs utility chirped at referee Grant Atkins as they left the field, prompting this tirade from the whistleblower.
“Don’t say a word. If this bloke speaks to me like this again he sits down. Go away. I’m not speaking to you again for the rest of the game. If he comes at me again about anything he goes.”
Reynolds apologised as they came out for the second half.
The Bulldogs led 10-4 at half-time, and it flattered the Dragons. Waddell cruelled all the first try-scorer bingo on Sunday afternoon by kicking and regathering himself, and Tevita Pangai jnr gifted one back for the Dragons when he threw an intercept straight to Lomax, who streaked downfield and put Mat Feagai clear.
Canterbury’s deserved lead came when Averillo scorched 80 metres downfield, burning Sloan in the process, a feat he would repeat in the second half, only this time from 85 metres.
It would prove to be the decisive play.
CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 18 (Jake Averillo 2, Corey Waddell tries; Matt Burton 2, Paul Alamoti goals) defeated ST GEORGE ILLAWARRA DRAGONS 16 (Mat Feagai, Max Feagai, Toby Couchman tries; Zac Lomax 2 goals) at WIN Stadium. Referee: Grant Atkins. Crowd: 16,678.
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