2 weeks ago
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It was only three weeks ago that Canterbury stood up and made the rest of the NRL take notice, knocking off competition leaders Penrith.
It certainly seems a lot longer ago than that.
The Bulldogs’ season is in danger of slipping away from them after a third straight loss, a 28-12 defeat against the in-form North Queensland Cowboys at Accor Stadium.
The result gave the discarded Reed Mahoney the last laugh over his former team and leaves Cameron Ciraldo and his side continuing to search for answers.
The match was a dogfight until the Cowboys broke clear late on but Canterbury’s shortcomings in attack again came back to bite them.
Lachlan Galvin scored one of their only two tries, throwing a dummy to dash over the line for the fourth time in five starts.
The blame couldn’t be cast on him more than anyone else on Friday night but while the Bulldogs are unable to be clinical enough, questions about whether he is a halfback will go on.
“Obviously, we’re a bit down on confidence with our attack at the moment. That happens at times and there’s a lot of commentary about that,” Ciraldo said.
He said the Bulldogs “need to make sure that we listen to the voices within our four walls and not everyone else” but conceded they had to be better when they got their chances.
Canterbury’s evening was further soured by a torn bicep sustained by Jake Turpin.
“Not much is going right for us at the moment,” Ciraldo said. “But I know we’ve got the people in the club and in the team to turn this around. We’ve just got to hang tough and stay connected and our luck will turn.”
The last time these two sets of players had been in such close proximity was inside a Las Vegas resort nightclub in early March, when Mahoney and Bulldogs winger Marcelo Montoya reportedly traded verbal barbs.
Back then Canterbury were being cast as title contenders while Todd Payten was being positioned as the first NRL coach to lose his job this year after dropping their opening game to Newcastle at Allegiant Stadium.
How the tables have turned since then. The Cowboys are still holding out on a new deal for Payten but after six wins in seven outings now his case is becoming compelling.
The Bulldogs, meanwhile, are sliding further off the pace.
Losses against depleted Parramatta and Brisbane teams were deflating and this left a similar feeling for supporters, who began to stream out of the Olympic stadium in the final minutes of the game as two late tries sealed the deal for the Cowboys.
The match was still in the balance until Cowboys centre Tom Chester burst into space with 14 minutes left, finding St George Illawarra-bound fullback Scott Drinkwater on his inside to cross for the second try of the night.
“It was very disappointing the way we finished. To let in three soft tries is not good enough,” Ciraldo said. “We’re in a bit of a spot at the moment. Clearly we’re a bit low on confidence and we need to remember there was a lot of good stuff in that first 60 minutes.”
While the Bulldogs must pick themselves up before next Thursday’s match against the Dolphins in Brisbane, it was a fitting way for veteran Jason Taumalolo to mark equalling Jonathan Thurston as North Queensland’s most capped player.
The only downside for the Cowboys was another shoulder injury which cut short the evening of forward Jeremiah Nanai.
He had returned to action only a week earlier after recovering from an operation to the same shoulder in the off-season.
“He’s going to get a scan,” Payten said. “It’s really disappointing for him, he’s worked super hard. We’ll just see how it goes. It’s not great.”
Nanai’s latest injury shapes as a blow for Queensland in the upcoming State of Origin series.
Canterbury have big problems of their own.
