The North Sydney Bears suffered a demoralising 18-16 defeat against the Warriors last week. It was set to be the upset of the round as North Sydney led 16-2 before the Warriors recovered late in the contest.
The Bears will have to rally against the Canterbury Bulldogs who are coming off an impressive 34-24 victory against the Wyong Roos. Bulldogs coach Any Patmore was particularly pleased with his side’s performance.
“I thought we were very good against a very powerful Wyong side,” Patmore said. “We handled that and played a good style of footy to score some great tries. I was very happy and our defence improved a lot from the week before.”
While 24 points isn’t exactly ideal for Patmore, he knows he has the luxury of knowing that his team is more than capable of finding the try line.
“We’ve got a side that can attack and I never doubt that. It’s about defence for us. I’m always confident that we will score points with the style of play and talent that we have. Attack is never an issue, it’s about keeping the other side to less than 20 and that’s something we work on during the week.”
Standing with two wins, the Bulldogs are gradually building momentum and are unlucky not to have four wins from four starts after a six-point loss against the Panthers and a two-point loss against the Wests Tigers.
Patmore’s determined for the Bulldogs to continue their momentum in expecting a tough battle with a hungry Bears side.
“They’re very strong in the middle, very quick with good leg speed. We’re preparing ourselves for a very tough game in the middle. They’re fast and quick in playing up-tempo.”
The Bears will have their hands full with last week’s man of the match, second-rower Adam Elliot, who has spear-headed the Bulldogs’ charge this season.
“[Elliot’s] outstanding,” Patmore said. “[He’s] played in a lot of junior representative teams and the Australian Schoolboys. He’s a quality kid right through on and off the field. He’s our captain and a first-year kid in the VB NSW Cup.”
Patmore asserts this is just the start of a long and fruitful career for the 20-year=old with a bright future in store for Elliot. “He’s going to be a very good NRL player eventually,” Patmore said. “He’s still learning but he’s handled himself very well at this level so far.”
This article first appeared on www.nswrl.com.au
