Bulldogs dispose of the Warriors

The Bulldogs have disposed of the New Zealand Warriors 30-16 at Auckland this afternoon.

Led by big man enforcers Willie Mason and Mark O’Meley, the visitors showed no mercy in downing the home team with five tries to two and the near perfect boot of conversion king Hazem El Masri.

Booted by critics after the lacklustre effort last Sunday against Manly, the Bulldogs were eager to return to the winners list.

However, sour notes for the Bulldogs were the reporting of fullback Luke Patten and centre Willie Tonga, while Mark O’Meley spent ten minutes in the sin bin for ruck obstruction.

Both reported players are likely to be watching from the sidelines next weekend. Patten raised his elbow, in the third minute, and connected with the head of Nathan Fien directly in front of the posts. Tonga was involved in an unwarranted lifting tackle on Grant Rovelli late in the match.

Tony Martin notched the first points with a penalty goal after the Patten-Fien collision. Unable to break the Bulldogs line, the Warriors opted for the penalty goal attempt.

The Bulldogs crossed the line first, in the seventh minute, after a clever offload by O’Meley, whilst being tackled by two Warriors, found Daniel Holdsworth.

A heavy two-man tackle on Warriors fullback Louis Anderson saw the ball knocked out of his grasp. Roy Asotasi swooped and in a similar manner to Holdsworth, he crossed the line unchecked.

Fien set up the Warriors first try, in the 34th minute, when he dummy passed and grubber kicked through the Bulldogs defensive line. Wairangi Koopu latched onto the ball to score out wide.

The Warriors could have taken the lead two minutes later through Martin. A set-play move from Fien, who grubber kicked again, put Brent Webb into the clear before he gathered and offloaded to Martin, unfortunately though Webb was offside from the kick.

A Clinton Toopi handling error on the siren for half time allowed the Bulldogs in for their third try through Tonga. El Masri missed the conversion and the teams retreated to the change rooms with the Bulldogs ahead 16-8.

New Zealand crawled to within two points early in the second half through Sione Faumuina, who crossed after a Bulldogs handling error.

Martin slotted over a penalty goal, in the 50th minute, after O’Meley was marched to the sin bin for 10 minutes for obstruction in the ruck.

That tied the scores but the last 30 minutes was all the Bulldogs, with Warriors captain Steven Price leaving the field clutching his shoulder.

Even with a man down, the Bulldogs still managed to cross the line as El Masri collected his first of a double in the 55th minute.

With the conversion, and penalty goal shortly after O’Meley came back on, the visitors were out to a comfortable eight-point lead at 24-16.

Australian Test selectors would have been relieved to see Price return to the field with 10 minutes to play, though he is certain have his shoulder tested by the medical staff if selected in the Kangaroos team for next Friday’s highly anticipated Anzac Test.

El Masri closed out the match with his second try in the final minute.

Next week, the Sydney Roosters host the Bulldogs on Sunday at Aussie Stadium, while the New Zealand have the bye, though likely to have many involved in the Test match.

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