The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have enjoyed a landmark opening night on a number of fronts, surpassing 13,000 Members for the first time on the way to a 24-14 victory over the Wests Tigers at ANZ Stadium.
On a night dedicated to Bulldogs Club Members, who made up nearly fifty percent of an outstanding Monday night crowd of 26,737, the Bulldogs ran in four tries to three to claim an emphatic first up win.
In addition to setting a new Club Membership landmark, the crowd helped the NRL record a new round attendance record of 201,212 – smashing the old mark of 185,051 set in 2007.
Both sides showed flashes during the opening 15 minutes of a pulsating contest, with the Bulldogs in particular looking dangerous down the left hand edge with Josh Morris and Bryson Goodwin causing plenty of headaches in defence for Blake Ayshford and Matt Utai.
Down the other end the Tigers weren’t denied their share of opportunities in a furious opening quarter, with two kicks going dead while Chris Lawrence also spilt a Robert Lui grubber on the line.
The first real scoring opportunity went the way of the Tigers in the 21st minute, with video referee Sean Hampstead ruling Ayshford had knocked the ball forward in a goal line strip on Ben Barba, denying the visitors first points.
They would eventually go the way of the Bulldogs, with Morris going 90 metres to open his account for the season. Receiving the ball all but on his own line, Morris found free space and outpaced the cover defence to score midway between the posts and the sideline for Goodwin to convert for a 6-nil lead.
The Tigers hit back almost immediately, with Lote Tuqiri touching down after some good hands on the left edge for a 6-4 half time score.
A missed Goodwin penalty on half time and back to back mistakes to start the second half saw the Bulldogs on the back foot, which was further compounded by a try to Chris Lawrence seven minutes after the resumption to make it 8-6 the Tigers way.
With five new Bulldogs making their first NRL appearances in blue and white one made a distinct impact on 52 minutes, Frank Pritchard at his devastating best as he steamrolled through Chris Heighington and Wade McKinnon to score and put the Dogs back into the lead at 12-8.
The on-debut highlights continued with 15 minutes left to play, when Jamal Idris and Morris combined to put five eighth Kris Keating away for a try under the sticks for an 18-8 buffer.
Marshall, having played a hand in each of his side’s first two tries, then did it all himself to keep the Tigers in the hunt with a try 11 minutes out from full time, with the subsequent conversion making it a four point game at 18-14.
However having dominated large chunks of the match the final say would fittingly go the way of the Bulldogs, with Trent Hodkinson turning Tuqiri inside out with a sweetly placed grubber for Steve Turner to score wide out.
Goodwin completed a near-faultless performance with the boot, adding the extras from the sideline for a 24-14 victory.
The only black mark on an otherwise bright night for the Bulldogs was a knee injury to Morris, with the centre to undergo scans Tuesday to ascertain the extent of the injury.
NRL
Bulldogs 24 (Josh Morris, Frank Pritchard, Kris Keating, Steve Turner tries; Bryson Goodwin 4 goals from 5 attempts)
Wests Tigers 14 (Lote Tuqiri, Chris Lawrence, Benji Marshall tries; Benji Marshall 1 goal from 3 attempts)
At ANZ Stadium
Crowd: 26,737
