It is time to start taking Canterbury seriously as premiership threats.
The Bulldogs trailed 20-0 at half-time inside a heaving GIO Stadium in Canberra on Saturday afternoon.
There were 23,827 fans at the ground, and they were all convinced the Green Machine were about to win big and surge to the top of the NRL ladder.
But the Bulldogs scored six unanswered tries to win 32-20. Take a bow, Cameron Ciraldo. You can only hope someone taped whatever the coach said to his men at halftime so they can use it again at a later date this season if the Dogs find themselves in trouble again
The man at the centre of the Belmore boys’ brilliant start to the year is Stephen Crichton. And it was fitting the skipper scored a try and had a hand in a couple of others.
“He did it in the Raiders game last year, funnily enough, at Belmore – he put the team on his back and turned nothing into something,” Ciraldo said of Crichton.
Main man: Stephen Crichton was at his brilliant best.Credit: Getty Images
“That’s probably the best game I’ve ever seen him play,” Reed Mahoney said of his skipper’s second 40 minutes. “To be down 20-0, and to come out at half-time, and grab the game by the balls, and go, ‘Get on the back of my shoulders’, it was unbelievable. It was nice to watch.”
NSW coach and Canberra legend Laurie Daley was in the stands. He made the long trek to the nation’s capital with one of his good mates and neighbours, Bulldogs chairman Adam Driussi. If Daley needs a captain for this Origin series, Crichton is a perfect candidate.
Canterbury had beaten up on a few clubs below them on the ladder, and on one of the few occasions they have met a genuine heavyweight this season, Brisbane blew them off the park by half-time.
But how much confidence will they take from the second-half caning of the Raiders?
Viliame Kikau goes over as the Bulldogs fight back in Canberra.Credit: NRL Photos
They were already without forwards Sitili Tupouniua, Jacob Preston and Josh Curran because of suspension. That’s three handy players to add to the pack.
Crichton was outstanding, as was Viliame Kikau in the second half, and winger Jacob Kiraz. Bronson Xerri also suddenly found it easy to make metres.
Jaeman Salmon was once branded a “weak-gutted dog” by Canberra coach Ricky Stuart, and made a point of barking those three words back down the barrel of a TV camera after he scored.
It was a brave call from Salmon, given the Dogs trailed at the time. His game ended midway through the second half when he hobbled from the field. When asked about Salmon’s celebration, Stuart said: “Honestly, how much do you really think I care about that?”
Stephen Crichton celebrates after scoring a try.Credit: Getty Images
Stuart spoke before the game about how important it was to contain Crichton and Kikau, and was disappointed his side had failed to do that. He was more upset some players had failed to slow the ruck before the ball got to the Dogs’ danger men.
“It’s round ten, we’re a brand-new team, and this is a part of the journey,” Stuart said. “We’ll learn from that. Had we won, I’d tell you the same thing, [that] it’s round ten.”
Ciraldo, Crichton and the Dogs gang would have partied on the bus back to Sydney. The Sydney Roosters await next Friday, so the celebrations would have been modest.
Zac Hosking crashed over in the opening five minutes, and Tom Starling thought he had doubled the lead when he dived over between the sticks. But the bunker ruled Canterbury forward Daniel Suluka-Fifita had somehow laid a hand on Starling, and ordered him to play the ball.
Kaeo Weekes had too much toe to explode past Matt Burton to score, then Xavier Savage finished off a lovely move down the right side of the field. When Hudson Young crossed before the break, Canterbury were in all sorts. But that was before Crichton’s intervention.
NRL is Live and Free on Channel 9 & 9Now
