Advertisement

Dogs sink Eels, Broncos beat Sharks

Two tries each from Sam Perrett, Brett Morris and Curtis Rona has delivered Canterbury their first win of the NRL season.

The Bulldogs turned on the power to defeat Parramatta 32-12 at ANZ Stadium on Friday night.

After falling behind 12-8 shortly after halftime due to two tries to Manu Ma’u, Perrett crossed twice in five minutes to regain the ascendancy for the Bulldogs in the 56th minute which they never relinquished.

A 74th minute four-pointer for Morris, on top of his 21st minute effort, sealed the round two match for the Dogs after their first up loss to Penrith.

Rona’s final effort two minutes from time came on top of his 11th minute opener.

The loss soured for the Eels by a knee injury to Semi Radradra who is set for around a month on the sidelines.

Tepai Moeroa (shoulder), Chris Sandow (ankle) and Beau Champion (knee) are also injury concerns for the Eels.

Morris was a dynamo for the Dogs out wide, his feats matched up front from the hard-running Ma’u who broke the game open early in the second half after the Dogs led 8-0 at the break before 28,876 fans.

But all the tackling Parramatta were forced to do early on in the match fatigued them badly at the back end.

After a deluge of possession in the first 10 minutes, eight straight sets and 81 per cent, Rona opened the scoring out wide off a lovely long ball from Moses Mbye.

Canterbury surged further ahead 10 minutes later when Morris sliced his way over.

Parramatta then worked their way back in the game, with Radradra scoring in the 34th minute.

The Fijian then went down after being bundled into touch by Josh Jackson.

Danny Wicks returned to the NRL for the first time in five years 10 minutes before halftime and was strong throughout in defence and attack.

Elsewhere, Ben Barba failed to fire against his old side as Brisbane opened their account for the NRL season with an unconvincing 10-2 win over Cronulla at Remondis Stadium.

The Broncos got their first win of the year thanks to two lucky second half tries but failed to answer some of the big questions being asked of Wayne Bennett’s men.

After the Sharks went into the break up 2-0 following an underwhelming first half, the Broncos got over the line thanks to the rub of the green, much to the chagrin of the 8369-strong crowd.

The Broncos’ first try was typical of the game – ugly.

Winger Corey Oates dived over the line after swooping on a Jack Reed offload which appeared to go forward.

Brisbane went further ahead when Lachlan Maranta dived on a loose ball that popped out when Sam Thaiday jammed Sosaia Feki on the goal-line.

Advertisement
Stay informed, daily
A FREE subscription to The New Daily arrives every morning and evening.
The New Daily is a trusted source of national news and information and is provided free for all Australians. Read our editorial charter.
Copyright © 2024 The New Daily.
All rights reserved.