Canterbury Bankstown abruptly ended the One New Zealand Warriors’ run of form with a powerful 46-16 victory in today’s 18th-round New South Wales Cup clash at Accor Stadium in Sydney.
The Warriors came into the contest with eight victories and a draw in their last 10 outings – and four straight most recently.
After beating the second-placed Canberra last week, they had a chance to back it up against the fourth-placed Bulldogs but struggled to stay in the contest on a day when they were handicapped by poor ball control and discipline.
There was concern when Canterbury Bankstown blew out of the blocks with two tries in the opening 10 minutes to take a 10-0 lead.
Just as quickly the Warriors responded with two well taken tries to hooker Makaia Tafua and winger Edward Kosi to be level at 10-10 after 23 minutes.
Match: Bulldogs v Warriors
Round 18 -
home Team
Bulldogs
3rd Position
away Team
Warriors
5th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
They couldn’t settle, though, and build pressure against a hungry home side as the Bulldogs struck with two more tries to take a 22-10 lead into halftime.
Three more tries – all converted – had the Bulldogs out to a 40-10 lead with the Warriors unable to stop their momentum.
They regrouped momentarily with a Moala Graham-Taufa try but the Bulldogs completed the scoring with their eighth try, the victory enabling them to leapfrog the Warriors into third place on the ladder.
