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BEN Barba has finally found a home at the Bulldogs.
The NRL's most electrifying interchange player last night grabbed Luke Patten's old fullback jersey and turned on a spectacular attacking performance to spearhead the victory over the Raiders.
Add his name to the NRL's most exciting era of fullbacks - Billy Slater, Jarryd Hayne, Brett Stewart, Josh Dugan and Lachlan Coote.
Playing opposite Dugan last night, Barba looked the Origin contender by completely overshadowing the boom Raiders fullback .
Coach Kevin Moore has been saying for two years that his little attacking dynamo would make a great fullback when Patten retired.
Last night, he took full advantage of the opportunities created by new halves Trent Hodkinson and Kris Keating to slash openings in the Raiders defence almost every time he touched the football.
Not since the days of Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb have the Dogs had a really slick halves pairing.
Brett Kimmorley did a great job at halfback for two years, but five-eighth was a problem.
Keating and Hodkinson played together as youngsters at Cabramatta in the Parramatta juniors. They also played for City against Country last year.
Last night, they fed the ball beautifully for Barba chiming into the backline or the giant centres on either side, Jamal Idris and Josh Morris.
It's early days, but the Bulldogs could not have been more impressive as they played with great cohesion.
The Raiders played like they had an attitude problem. There was no sting and little starch in their defence and their attack lacked creativity.
It's a problem that will obviously be rectified when Matt Orford and Terry Campese come into the side.
The Bulldogs were without their two most experienced forwards in Michael Ennis and skipper Andrew Ryan, but you wouldn't have known as they had the better of the opening exchanges against the Raiders' Origin stars Dave Shillington and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.
Canterbury took full advantage of the forward dominance to grab two tries in the opening 10 minutes.
Bryson Goodwin charged over in the corner after new signing Kris Keating slipped Barba into open space in the lead-up.
Morris scored shortly after when Goodwin took a Keating chip on his left wing then flicked the ball inside.
The Bulldogs winger banged over his first two conversion attempts from the left sideline.
Lock and stand-in skipper David Stagg grabbed the third try for the Bulldogs, pouncing on to Hodkinson's deft grubber in the right corner.
Goodwin again converted to give the Bulldogs an 18-point win .The margin could have been greater because Bulldogs players were twice held up in-goal by the Raiders defence.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...he-heir-apparent/story-e6frexnr-1226012587711
The NRL's most electrifying interchange player last night grabbed Luke Patten's old fullback jersey and turned on a spectacular attacking performance to spearhead the victory over the Raiders.
Add his name to the NRL's most exciting era of fullbacks - Billy Slater, Jarryd Hayne, Brett Stewart, Josh Dugan and Lachlan Coote.
Playing opposite Dugan last night, Barba looked the Origin contender by completely overshadowing the boom Raiders fullback .
Coach Kevin Moore has been saying for two years that his little attacking dynamo would make a great fullback when Patten retired.
Last night, he took full advantage of the opportunities created by new halves Trent Hodkinson and Kris Keating to slash openings in the Raiders defence almost every time he touched the football.
Not since the days of Steve Mortimer and Terry Lamb have the Dogs had a really slick halves pairing.
Brett Kimmorley did a great job at halfback for two years, but five-eighth was a problem.
Keating and Hodkinson played together as youngsters at Cabramatta in the Parramatta juniors. They also played for City against Country last year.
Last night, they fed the ball beautifully for Barba chiming into the backline or the giant centres on either side, Jamal Idris and Josh Morris.
It's early days, but the Bulldogs could not have been more impressive as they played with great cohesion.
The Raiders played like they had an attitude problem. There was no sting and little starch in their defence and their attack lacked creativity.
It's a problem that will obviously be rectified when Matt Orford and Terry Campese come into the side.
The Bulldogs were without their two most experienced forwards in Michael Ennis and skipper Andrew Ryan, but you wouldn't have known as they had the better of the opening exchanges against the Raiders' Origin stars Dave Shillington and Tom Learoyd-Lahrs.
Canterbury took full advantage of the forward dominance to grab two tries in the opening 10 minutes.
Bryson Goodwin charged over in the corner after new signing Kris Keating slipped Barba into open space in the lead-up.
Morris scored shortly after when Goodwin took a Keating chip on his left wing then flicked the ball inside.
The Bulldogs winger banged over his first two conversion attempts from the left sideline.
Lock and stand-in skipper David Stagg grabbed the third try for the Bulldogs, pouncing on to Hodkinson's deft grubber in the right corner.
Goodwin again converted to give the Bulldogs an 18-point win .The margin could have been greater because Bulldogs players were twice held up in-goal by the Raiders defence.
http://www.dailytelegraph.com.au/sp...he-heir-apparent/story-e6frexnr-1226012587711
