The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have clinched the J. J. Giltinan Shield as 2012 minor premiers following a big 42-10 victory over the Sydney Roosters on Saturday night.
It didn’t take long for the home side to open the scoring, with Ben Barba slicing his way through the line before finding Josh Morris on his inside within the opening minute. Krisnan Inu slotted the conversion, giving the Bulldogs a perfect start.
Soon after, a penalty deep in the Roosters’ half gave Canterbury-Bankstown a good chance to further their advantage. A nice switch of play from Aiden Tolman led to the second try in Josh Jackson’s NRL career in the 12th minute, with the second rower exploding through the line to score.
The Roosters returned serve in the 19th minute, with Aidan Guerra slipping a handy pass to Tautau Moga who scored his 7th try of the season. In his final game for the club, Braith Anasta couldn’t add the extras from out wide, with the score left at 12-4.
Momentum began to swing the way of the visitors, with Mitchell Pearce putting in a deft kick for Anthony Minichiello to collect and score just five minutes after their first. But Minichiello then made a mistake from the ensuing kick-off, forcing a goal line dropout. The Bulldogs couldn’t capitalise on that occasion, with the Tricolours benefiting from a reliving penalty.
While the Roosters were piling on the pressure, earning repeat sets in a good attacking positing, the Bulldogs’ defence was up to the task, absorbing everything thrown their way before resuming an attack of their own. And they were in again, spreading it wide to the left for the towering Frank Pritchard to score. Inu converted to leave the score at 18-10 at halftime.
The Bulldogs burst out of the blocks after the break, with Kris Keating benefiting from some nice free-flowing play, scoring just three minutes into the half. As the half wore on, both sides were muscling up in defence, but when Josh Reynolds hooked a kick back for Barba, the fullback found a way to sneak in yet another try. The Bulldogs were in a healthy position headed into the final quarter of the match, leading 30-10.
There was plenty of feeling in the contest, with Martin Kennedy slipping and receiving an accidental knee from Inu in the 57th minute, and plenty of heavy hitting was the order of the day.
Jackson was in for his second in the 67th minute, capitalising on a tap back from Inu from a cross-field kick from Reynolds, and the Bulldogs were well on their way to victory. Barba then turned provider for the second rower just five minute after, with Jackson claiming his hat-trick.
There would be no further scoring, with the Bulldogs going on to claim a morale-boosting 42-10 victory in the final match of the regular season.
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Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs respect and honour the Darug and Eora nations, who are the Traditional Custodians of the land and pay our respects to their Elders past, present and future. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on the lands we meet, gather and play on.
