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While punters have jumped off the Bulldogs after a lacklustre final trial, Canterbury chairman John Khoury has urged the club’s fans to be “patient and supportive” of Trent Barrett’s new-look side.
Canterbury chairman John Khoury has urged passionate yet concerned Bulldogs fans to be “patient and supportive” but refused to offer excuses for his side’s 30-6 trial match loss to Cronulla.
Amid increasing expectation and hype, the new-look Bulldogs stepped out for the first time on Monday night to be whacked five tries to one.
While it was a trial, and most stars were rested throughout the second half, social media went into meltdown questioning Canterbury’s promised new dawn.
Punters also jumped off, the loss prompting an immediate change to the TAB betting markets with the Bulldogs drifting from $23 to $26 to win the premiership.
And in the club’s round one game against North Queensland in Townsville, Canterbury moved in betting from $1.73 to $1.80 with the Cowboys tightening from $2.10 into $2.
Star recruit Tevita Pangai Jnr was sin-binned during the trial — and placed on report twice — but avoided being charged by the NRL match-review committee. He was in trouble for a striking incident and high tackle.
Speaking about the loss, an honest and open Khoury said: “There are a lot of expectations but the big thing is we need to be supportive and be patient with the staff and players.
“It was a trial. That’s not an excuse but that is why you have trials, so you can shake off those cobwebs and be ready for round one.
It will come down to playing together and the chemistry. You build that chemistry. All good things take time. I’m not saying it’s going to take a long time but it is chemistry that has to be built by players playing together.
“We’re not going to make excuses – it was disappointing – but the good news is that I’m glad it happened in a trial and not in round one.
“Look at the Penrith-Parramatta trial (Eels won 36-0). I’m not making any comparisons here but you’re talking about the grand final side who will still, arguably, be in the top two or three sides.
They will go into camp and I’m very confident they will be ready for round one. There has been a lot of hard work that has gone into this pre-season. It is a happy camp.”
The Bulldogs missed 20 tackles against Cronulla, committed nine errors (the Sharks made 13) and conceded nine penalties, according to Fox Sports Stats.
“There were a lot of handling errors and penalties, so just poor discipline,” Khoury said.
“To compete in a game of rugby league in the modern era, you need to play error-free footy, be disciplined and reduce your penalties. Everyone needs to do their job, in terms of each player has to at least reduce the amount of errors.
If we reduce our errors and play more disciplined footy then we will be right. The focus now is improved discipline.”
Canterbury faces a horrid draw over the opening eight games, playing North Queensland, Brisbane, Manly, Melbourne, Penrith, Souths, Brisbane and then the Roosters.
“Sometimes these challenges are what brings out the best in individuals and teams,” Khoury said. “We will get that opportunity, no doubt.”
The TAB’s Gerard Daffy added: “Canterbury were at a very cautious $23 since the market first went up in September.
“Most agree Canterbury could be the big movers up the ladder this year. But that trial loss does raise a couple of question marks and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cowboys ended up starting favourites in round one.”
Canterbury chairman John Khoury has urged passionate yet concerned Bulldogs fans to be “patient and supportive” but refused to offer excuses for his side’s 30-6 trial match loss to Cronulla.
Amid increasing expectation and hype, the new-look Bulldogs stepped out for the first time on Monday night to be whacked five tries to one.
While it was a trial, and most stars were rested throughout the second half, social media went into meltdown questioning Canterbury’s promised new dawn.
Punters also jumped off, the loss prompting an immediate change to the TAB betting markets with the Bulldogs drifting from $23 to $26 to win the premiership.
And in the club’s round one game against North Queensland in Townsville, Canterbury moved in betting from $1.73 to $1.80 with the Cowboys tightening from $2.10 into $2.
Star recruit Tevita Pangai Jnr was sin-binned during the trial — and placed on report twice — but avoided being charged by the NRL match-review committee. He was in trouble for a striking incident and high tackle.
Speaking about the loss, an honest and open Khoury said: “There are a lot of expectations but the big thing is we need to be supportive and be patient with the staff and players.
“It was a trial. That’s not an excuse but that is why you have trials, so you can shake off those cobwebs and be ready for round one.
It will come down to playing together and the chemistry. You build that chemistry. All good things take time. I’m not saying it’s going to take a long time but it is chemistry that has to be built by players playing together.
“We’re not going to make excuses – it was disappointing – but the good news is that I’m glad it happened in a trial and not in round one.
“Look at the Penrith-Parramatta trial (Eels won 36-0). I’m not making any comparisons here but you’re talking about the grand final side who will still, arguably, be in the top two or three sides.
They will go into camp and I’m very confident they will be ready for round one. There has been a lot of hard work that has gone into this pre-season. It is a happy camp.”
The Bulldogs missed 20 tackles against Cronulla, committed nine errors (the Sharks made 13) and conceded nine penalties, according to Fox Sports Stats.
“There were a lot of handling errors and penalties, so just poor discipline,” Khoury said.
“To compete in a game of rugby league in the modern era, you need to play error-free footy, be disciplined and reduce your penalties. Everyone needs to do their job, in terms of each player has to at least reduce the amount of errors.
If we reduce our errors and play more disciplined footy then we will be right. The focus now is improved discipline.”
Canterbury faces a horrid draw over the opening eight games, playing North Queensland, Brisbane, Manly, Melbourne, Penrith, Souths, Brisbane and then the Roosters.
“Sometimes these challenges are what brings out the best in individuals and teams,” Khoury said. “We will get that opportunity, no doubt.”
The TAB’s Gerard Daffy added: “Canterbury were at a very cautious $23 since the market first went up in September.
“Most agree Canterbury could be the big movers up the ladder this year. But that trial loss does raise a couple of question marks and it wouldn’t surprise me if the Cowboys ended up starting favourites in round one.”
