The Bulldogs have a golden opportunity to return to the winner’s circle when they face the last-placed Knights in Magic Round.
Coach Trent Barrett has stopped short of saying Magic Round will make or break the Bulldogs’ season but admits his struggling side can ill-afford to come home from Brisbane as losers.
Barrett’s men upset the Sydney Roosters in round 8, but the out-of-form Canberra Raiders brought them back to earth last weekend.
The Bulldogs meet the only side below them on the ladder, the Newcastle Knights, on Friday evening in what looms as their best chance to bank a win this month.
Pending other results, the loser of the clash could fall a game behind the pack in 16th place.
“We need to win. There’s no doubt about that,” said Barrett when asked whether the clash would “make or break” the Dogs’ season.
“Newcastle are in a similar situation. There’s four teams down at the wrong end of the table on a similar amount of points, so this weekend is really important for us.
“The result will take care of itself if we can tidy up a few things in our game.
“Our effort and attitude I can’t fault but we’ve got to be better in different areas.”
Handling will likely be high on Barrett’s wishlist for improvements; the Bulldogs made 14 errors against the Raiders, their second-highest tally in a game this season.
Most damningly, a Bulldogs drop ball handed the Raiders the field position they needed to score their second try.
“I was disappointed last week, particularly with our first half. I thought we just turned the ball over too much,” Barrett said.
“We had some good moment in that game, but the errors that we tossed up, really unforced errors, they’re the ones we’ve got to get out of our game.
“We just make it too hard on ourselves at crucial times.”
His side may be languishing at the bottom of the table for a second-straight season, but Barrett insisted he hadn’t lost the appetite to coach at the elite level.
“It’s too hard a job if you don’t enjoy it,” he said.
“I love turning up to work every day. It’s challenging but all us coaches are in the same boat. We’re here for the players, it’s not about us.”
Barrett said the Bulldogs’ fortunes would turn around once they put in an 80-minute performance.
“We’re not far away, we’ve really only had that one blowout score against Melbourne,” he said.
“The rest of the games, we’ve not only been in them, we’ve been in a position where we could have won them. But we’ve got to be better for that full 80 minutes.”
