‘Diabolical’: Bulldogs sink to sad 57-year low

The Bulldogs have endured their worst start to a season since 1964, after suffering their fifth straight loss at the hands of the Melbourne Storm.

Trent Barrett’s men showed signs of improvement on Saturday evening, but still slumped to a 52-18 loss at ANZ Stadium.

Watch The 2021 NRL Telstra Premiership Live & On-Demand with No Ad-Breaks During Play. New to Kayo? Try 14-Days Free Now >

The Bulldogs copped it from all angles during and after the 34 point loss.

“That is truly diabolical Bulldogs defence on their line. What is happening?” tweeted Fox League commentator Andrew Voss.

“What the f*** was that tackle attempt from Dallin Watene-Zelezniak,” asked journalist Matthew Dunn.

“That’s some park footy bulls***, not the top-tier professional squad. Atrocious.”

“What concerns me is just the fundamentals here that are lacking from the Bulldogs, just that lack of desire,” Fox League commentator and former Bulldogs half Braith Anasta said.

“The lack of resilience, the lack of desire. It's not the Bulldogs. It’s not the Bulldogs that I know. It’s not the Bulldogs that I played for.”

Brandon Smith was among the Storm’s best in the first half.Source:Getty Images

Dogs fans had at least one reason to cheer in the first half, though — in his first game of the season, bench forward Luke Thompson crashed over the chalk to score the Bulldogs’ first points in 265 minutes of football.

The Dogs hadn’t scored a single point since round one, having been held scoreless by the Panthers, Broncos and Rabbitohs in the weeks since.

Despite breaking their drought, the Bulldogs were still outscored five tries to one in the first stanza.

Commentators were left reeling when Felise Kaufusi fooled the Bulldogs defence with a dummy to score the Storm’s first in the third minute.

Anasta was gobsmacked by the try, calling it “one of the simplest tries you’ll see in 2021”.

Big men Christian Welch and Tui Kamikamica crashed over for tries of their own later in the half, after halfback Jahrome Hughes connected with a Cam Munster kick to find the line in the 11th minute.

The first half was marred by a scuffle between the two sides, which resulted in Ofahiki Ogden and Nelson Asofa-Solomona heading to the sin bin for ten minutes each.

George Jennings iced an almost perfect half of footy from the Storm when he crossed in the 38th, helping his side to a 30-6 halftime lead.

It was Jennings who set up the Storm’s first try of the second half as well. The winger put up a well-placed kick which found Ryan Papenhuyzen at pace. Papenhuyzen outran Doggies halfback Kyle Flanagan to notch his seventh try of the season.

The Bulldogs began to find their feet in the second term, striking back through a try to Jake Averillo.

An uncharacteristic error from Papenhuyzen gave the Bulldogs another opportunity to attack, and when Dallin Watene-Zeleniak managed to hold onto a Jake Averillo kick, the Canterbury faithful dared to dream.

“The Bulldogs are on a bit of a roll here,” Anasta commented.

Time wasn’t on the Bulldogs’ side, however, and their hopes were dashed when Justin Olam crossed for Melbourne in the 68th minute. Late tries to Josh Addo-Carr and Nicho Hynes added insult to injury.

Canterbury will hope to open their account with a win over fellow battlers, the Cowboys, next week. Both sides are yet to win a match in 2021.

Source: Read Full Article