Dogs drop the plot, and Ryan acknowledges the errors of their ways
Greg Prichard
April 11, 2011
A BITTERLY disappointed Andrew Ryan trudged off the sodden SCG turf yesterday after his Canterbury side had been crushed by St George Illawarra in the pouring rain, knowing his Bulldogs had never given themselves a chance of beating the premiers.
With the scores at 15-6 and the Bulldogs pressing, Dragons fullback Darius Boyd intercepted a pass and raced the length of the field to score to virtually kill off the game. When asked whether a Bulldogs try at that moment would have changed the course of the match, the Dogs skipper wasn't too sure.
''Yeah, but I think we just gave them too many opportunities from the get-go in the second half,'' he said. ''We were coming out of trouble, but on play one, or two, or three, we dropped the ball or made other errors, and against the best team in the competition you can't do that.
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''We got ourselves back in the game there and we were coming home a bit, but again we made a bit of an error, and they scored down the other end of the field. It was a pretty big play but we didn't help ourselves throughout the 80 minutes.
''I'm extremely disappointed. We prepared well, we had a good week at training but it was just those individual errors, and I put my hand up, you know. I made plenty out there, too. In the first half, in attacking opportunities, we made errors, and you see over and over again with the Dragons - they love that. As soon as you make errors, they make you pay, and they certainly did that today.''
The Bulldogs were the only unbeaten team in the competition after three rounds but they have since lost two in a row - against Melbourne and yesterday the Dragons.
The game was an opportunity for the Dogs to bounce back from their loss to the Storm and test themselves against the competition favourites, but after trailing 9-0 at half-time and 15-0 in the second half, it was always going to be hard for them.
Canterbury coach Kevin Moore said he felt his team had done well enough in the first half to show they could give the Dragons a run for their money but had shot themselves in the foot when it mattered.
''I thought we rolled our sleeves up pretty well, and earned the right,'' he said. ''And we got a penalty and then a couple of errors off them, and I thought we had done enough to get a couple of opportunities up their end of the field. But, unlike them, who are so good that if they do get an opportunity they often turn it into points, we turned it into mistakes.
''We're doing a lot of groundwork, but not getting the results from it because of poor execution and poor ball control.''
Dragons left centre Matt Cooper scored two tries, beating the defence of centre Jamal Idris in the process. Moore agreed it had been a tough afternoon for Idris but said it was no different for the rest of the team.
''We started the comp excellent, and in both our losses there were some things to be liked and also some lessons to be learned,'' Moore said. ''You've got to learn your lesson quickly in this game at this level.''
LeagueHQ
Greg Prichard
April 11, 2011
A BITTERLY disappointed Andrew Ryan trudged off the sodden SCG turf yesterday after his Canterbury side had been crushed by St George Illawarra in the pouring rain, knowing his Bulldogs had never given themselves a chance of beating the premiers.
With the scores at 15-6 and the Bulldogs pressing, Dragons fullback Darius Boyd intercepted a pass and raced the length of the field to score to virtually kill off the game. When asked whether a Bulldogs try at that moment would have changed the course of the match, the Dogs skipper wasn't too sure.
''Yeah, but I think we just gave them too many opportunities from the get-go in the second half,'' he said. ''We were coming out of trouble, but on play one, or two, or three, we dropped the ball or made other errors, and against the best team in the competition you can't do that.
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''We got ourselves back in the game there and we were coming home a bit, but again we made a bit of an error, and they scored down the other end of the field. It was a pretty big play but we didn't help ourselves throughout the 80 minutes.
''I'm extremely disappointed. We prepared well, we had a good week at training but it was just those individual errors, and I put my hand up, you know. I made plenty out there, too. In the first half, in attacking opportunities, we made errors, and you see over and over again with the Dragons - they love that. As soon as you make errors, they make you pay, and they certainly did that today.''
The Bulldogs were the only unbeaten team in the competition after three rounds but they have since lost two in a row - against Melbourne and yesterday the Dragons.
The game was an opportunity for the Dogs to bounce back from their loss to the Storm and test themselves against the competition favourites, but after trailing 9-0 at half-time and 15-0 in the second half, it was always going to be hard for them.
Canterbury coach Kevin Moore said he felt his team had done well enough in the first half to show they could give the Dragons a run for their money but had shot themselves in the foot when it mattered.
''I thought we rolled our sleeves up pretty well, and earned the right,'' he said. ''And we got a penalty and then a couple of errors off them, and I thought we had done enough to get a couple of opportunities up their end of the field. But, unlike them, who are so good that if they do get an opportunity they often turn it into points, we turned it into mistakes.
''We're doing a lot of groundwork, but not getting the results from it because of poor execution and poor ball control.''
Dragons left centre Matt Cooper scored two tries, beating the defence of centre Jamal Idris in the process. Moore agreed it had been a tough afternoon for Idris but said it was no different for the rest of the team.
''We started the comp excellent, and in both our losses there were some things to be liked and also some lessons to be learned,'' Moore said. ''You've got to learn your lesson quickly in this game at this level.''
LeagueHQ
