The Bulldogs NYC team will be counting on Canberra continuing their recent poor form if they are to notch a win this Friday night at GIO Stadium.
Canberra have lost four of their past five games, with losses to Brisbane, North Queensland, Sydney and New Zealand. This included a 54-0 thrashing at the hands of the Warriors in Round 9, whom the Bulldogs beat in Round 10.
The Bulldogs will be confident this Friday night despite a narrow loss to the ladder leading Parramatta last Sunday, 28-26. Prop Herman Ese’ese almost single handedly led his side to an upset victory with 22 runs for 205m, 37 tackles, 10 tackle-busts, 7 offloads, 2 line-breaks and 2 tries.
Canberra halves Lachlan Lewis and Lachlan Croker will back up from the U18s Origin on Wednesday night to play for their side and they’ll need to if the Raiders have any hope of beating the Dogs.
Dogs star halfback Brendan Cox misses selection this week due to a hamstring injury but should be back after the bye. Centre Michael Morgan has been named despite a concussion suffered against the Eels and will have to pass a concussion test if he’s to be cleared for Friday night.
The last time these two sides met was in Round 23, 2013. 4 Bulldogs players remain from that team, Tommy Backhouse, Dujuan Liolevave, Denzel King and Renouf To’omaga. They will need to re-capture the form they were in last year when they annihilated Canberra 62-12.
