The Bulldogs came away from round two with two points, but also Aiden Tolman nursing a sore head.
The front-rower left the field after only 17 minutes with concussion and after failing the head injury assessment on the night, he was ruled out of the match and in doubt for round three.
Under the new rules, players must not return to the field if they have displayed symptoms such as loss of consciousness, falling to the ground without taking protective action, seizure, memory impairment or balance disturbance (ataxia).
Under a second rule amendment, players must leave the field, and can return if they are not concussed, following assessment, if they suffer from an incident such as a facial fracture that could have caused concussion.
Tolman has since sat the concussion test and past, but it will be light duties for the front-row forward as the Bulldogs build towards their first home game of the year.
“I did the concussion test on Friday and passed it,” said Tolman.
“I’m back into light training this week and I will build up towards the game on Friday night.
“I will definitely play.”
Despite leaving the game at the 17th minute mark and Adam Elliott playing no part, Tolman was most impressed with the performance of the Bulldogs in the second 40 to dig deep and show character and desire to come away with the two points. “Penrith really stuck it to us. They got a couple of tries early, had plenty of momentum and had plenty of ball control.”
“The second half, the boys were able to claw their way back.
“They got the win with 15 men for the majority of the game. It’s very pleasing.
After two wins on the road to begin 2016, the Bulldogs will return to ANZ Stadium on Friday night for their first home game of the season.
“It’s always good to go back home. I’m sure all our members and fans will turn up and cheer on Friday night.
“We’ve got to play better than we did last Thursday against Penrith, but if control the ball, I’m sure we can get the job done.”
