CANTERBURY players have made a pact to stop relying on halves Kris Keating and Trent Hodkinson as they prepare for a clash with Manly that could wipe out a winless month.
And the behind-closed-doors agreement couldn’t have been more timely, with Hodkinson suspended for a fortnight. The Bulldogs ended a three-match losing streak with a 28-6 win over luckless Gold Coast on Friday night but face a different prospect altogether when they play the in-form Sea Eagles at ANZ Stadium on Saturday.
“I know that after last week’s game, our boys Trent and Krissy, they put their hands up and said they needed to be more dominant,” utility Dene Halatau tells Rugby League Week.
“But we spoke during the week about the fact that there’s 13 players on the field at a time and four on the bench. We need to know our roles. We can’t just rely on them to direct us around the park, wholey and soley. It’s more a case of us talking together, making their role easier.
“I think they’ve been going great this year. Kris Keating, he gives 110 per cent each week. He plays that sort of game where he keeps turning up. If we’re in our own 10, he’ll have a hit-up., A small-ish five-eighth having a hit-up, he plays with a lot of ticker.”
Keating and Hodkinson shouldered the blame during the Dogs’ recent run of outs – but according to the no.6, criticism comes with the job.
“We’ve got to put up with that,” Keating says. “That’s what we do as professional footy players. We’ve got to cop it on the chin and go back to training and work hard.
“We got a win … and I’m sure people won’t say much about us (this week).”
Keating revealed the Dogs started talking about the Sea Eagles as soon as they left the field on Friday.
“Massive game – we spoke about it after (the Gold Coast match),” said Keating.
Haltau even reckoned a victory on Saturday could wipe out a forgettable May.
“You always say when you lead into a bye that that game before is a four-point win if you can get it so having won, if we can back it up again next week, leading into the bye, it’s going to settle us in the eight a bit more comfortably,” he said.
“If you put in a good performance and get a win up, you forget those times. If we were to string together two wins going into a bye, we’d be feeling pretty happy with what we’ve achieved and confidence we can build on that.”
