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The Bulldogs’ woeful start to the season has them face-to-face with a concerning 50-year record.
Meanwhile, prolific tryscorer Brett Morris is eyeing a perfect run against the Warriors and the Broncos’ winning glory could be smacked down quickly.
TWO ON THE TROT?
Brisbane broke its 13-game losing streak against the Bulldogs last week — but it is very difficult to predict them making it two in a row against Storm tomorrow.
The Broncos have won just 13 of 48 matches against Melbourne, just over 25 per cent. This is easily Brisbane’s worst record against any team, with their next worst record against the Sea Eagles being more than 20 percentage points better!
On top of this, Brisbane has not beaten anyone except the Bulldogs since the COVID shutdown last year, a streak of 19 straight losses.
The news only gets worse for Kevin Walters’ men, in that Storm practically never lose three straight matches. Their last streak of more than two losses was four straight in 2015 — and the one prior to that was in 2012.
Even with a win this week Storm fans may still struggle to find their side on the competition ladder after so many years of simply glancing at top spot to confirm their teams dominance. Should they find themselves still outside the top eight at the end of this weekend it will be just the second time since 2002 (excluding 2010) that Melbourne has spent three weeks in the bottom half of the ladder.
IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES
The Titans 44-8 win over the Cowboys was their highest ever score and second biggest win all time and saw them climb into the top four for the first time in almost exactly five seasons (round 4, 2016). Gold Coast are one of the form sides of the competition having won seven of their past eight games, but just one of those wins was against a top eight side from last season (30-6 over Newcastle in round 20).
Canberra on the other hand suffered one of its worst ever collapses after leading the Warriors 31-10 in the 51st minute last week before eventually losing 34-31. Both of their bigger margin collapses were 22 points — but the comebacks both started much earlier in the game.
While the venue of this fixture is still up in the air at the time of writing, Canberra certainly has the upper hand in recent fixtures, no matter where the game is played. The Raiders have won eight of the past 11 games, with all but one of those victories by 13 points or larger margins; The Titans have not held Canberra to less than 20 points since 2015.
THE DOGS OF 0 AND 4?
The Bulldogs have had a lean trot in recent seasons, but 2021 may unfortunately be finding new depths for the hole they find themselves in. Canterbury has not started a season 0-4 since 1971 and that is the only time since the Early 1960s.
Perhaps worse than this though is being held to nil in back-to-back games for the first time in club history. The Bulldogs have been held to nil 32 times since 1935, with almost a quarter of those (seven) coming in the past five seasons. Should the Rabbitohs hold them to nil this week, they would become just the second team in history to be held to no points in three straight games after the Sharks in 2014. This would also give them the fewest points of any team through four rounds since Glebe in 1928.
Perhaps one piece of good news is the Bulldogs’ only win in their past 12 games came against the Rabbitohs in round 19 last season.
Meanwhile, prolific tryscorer Brett Morris is eyeing a perfect run against the Warriors and the Broncos’ winning glory could be smacked down quickly.
TWO ON THE TROT?
Brisbane broke its 13-game losing streak against the Bulldogs last week — but it is very difficult to predict them making it two in a row against Storm tomorrow.
The Broncos have won just 13 of 48 matches against Melbourne, just over 25 per cent. This is easily Brisbane’s worst record against any team, with their next worst record against the Sea Eagles being more than 20 percentage points better!
On top of this, Brisbane has not beaten anyone except the Bulldogs since the COVID shutdown last year, a streak of 19 straight losses.
The news only gets worse for Kevin Walters’ men, in that Storm practically never lose three straight matches. Their last streak of more than two losses was four straight in 2015 — and the one prior to that was in 2012.
Even with a win this week Storm fans may still struggle to find their side on the competition ladder after so many years of simply glancing at top spot to confirm their teams dominance. Should they find themselves still outside the top eight at the end of this weekend it will be just the second time since 2002 (excluding 2010) that Melbourne has spent three weeks in the bottom half of the ladder.
IT WAS THE BEST OF TIMES, IT WAS THE WORST OF TIMES
The Titans 44-8 win over the Cowboys was their highest ever score and second biggest win all time and saw them climb into the top four for the first time in almost exactly five seasons (round 4, 2016). Gold Coast are one of the form sides of the competition having won seven of their past eight games, but just one of those wins was against a top eight side from last season (30-6 over Newcastle in round 20).
Canberra on the other hand suffered one of its worst ever collapses after leading the Warriors 31-10 in the 51st minute last week before eventually losing 34-31. Both of their bigger margin collapses were 22 points — but the comebacks both started much earlier in the game.
While the venue of this fixture is still up in the air at the time of writing, Canberra certainly has the upper hand in recent fixtures, no matter where the game is played. The Raiders have won eight of the past 11 games, with all but one of those victories by 13 points or larger margins; The Titans have not held Canberra to less than 20 points since 2015.
THE DOGS OF 0 AND 4?
The Bulldogs have had a lean trot in recent seasons, but 2021 may unfortunately be finding new depths for the hole they find themselves in. Canterbury has not started a season 0-4 since 1971 and that is the only time since the Early 1960s.
Perhaps worse than this though is being held to nil in back-to-back games for the first time in club history. The Bulldogs have been held to nil 32 times since 1935, with almost a quarter of those (seven) coming in the past five seasons. Should the Rabbitohs hold them to nil this week, they would become just the second team in history to be held to no points in three straight games after the Sharks in 2014. This would also give them the fewest points of any team through four rounds since Glebe in 1928.
Perhaps one piece of good news is the Bulldogs’ only win in their past 12 games came against the Rabbitohs in round 19 last season.
