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BULLDOGS coach Steve Folkes has given Ben Roberts an 80-minute reprieve after he branded the rookie halfback's performance on Friday night as "shocking".
The entire Bulldogs squad was embarrassed after the 40-10 loss to Penrith at CUA Stadium on Friday night. Winless after the first two matches, the heat is about to go on Roberts, especially after Brent Sherwin's successful return in Premier League.
Roberts, 20, produced uncharacteristic handling errors and was directly responsible for Michael Jennings' try for the Panthers. Folkes declared he would stick with Roberts for next week's match against the Titans despite Sherwin proving he had overcome his foot injury.
"Ben didn't play well. I think he would be the first to admit that,'' Folkes said. "Maybe he started to believe some of his own publicity. He had a shocker and rightly he was pretty dirty on himself. But he's still only young and you have experiences like that and that's how you learn.''
After missing the entire pre-season, Sherwin orchestrated two tries and laid on another during the curtain-raiser. "I thought he (Sherwin) played okay and his kicking game was quite good,'' Folkes said.
"But I think he needs to earn his spot. Ben has done enough in the trials and in the off-season to think he's worth another chance. Shifty has only had one game and has hardly run. Although he went okay, he needs to be consistent with it ... we'll wait and see.''
Unable to match the intensity and aggression of the Panthers, Folkes placed blamed for the loss on the short turnaround following their opening-round loss to the Knights last Sunday. Bulldogs lock Reni Maitua was frank in assessing his side's performance.
"People have tried to make up excuses for us that it was a short turnaround and the weather,'' Maitua said. "But they played in the same conditions and we had five days to freshen up. It was embarrassing. It's the embarrassment that hurts more than anything.
"We pride ourselves on our defence, but we were just so scrappy and the intensity wasn't there. We never got out of first gear, it was a lazy performance. We've just got to stick together, though. We're going to have tough times all year.
"I guarantee you that every team in the competition will lose by a smashing at one stage during this season.''
Five-eighth Daniel Holdsworth added: "Folksey said after the match, 'let's never perform like that again this year'. He wasn't very happy. It was embarrassing, especially at the end when they were scoring at will.''
The Bulldogs could suffer a further blow with Test forward Willie Mason limping at yesterday's recovery session after picking up a foot injury.
Mason's injury will be assessed this week and he could miss the Titans match, but Bulldogs officials didn't feel it was a serious problem. Holdsworth was also battling a biceps injury.
Source: Daily Telegraph
The entire Bulldogs squad was embarrassed after the 40-10 loss to Penrith at CUA Stadium on Friday night. Winless after the first two matches, the heat is about to go on Roberts, especially after Brent Sherwin's successful return in Premier League.
Roberts, 20, produced uncharacteristic handling errors and was directly responsible for Michael Jennings' try for the Panthers. Folkes declared he would stick with Roberts for next week's match against the Titans despite Sherwin proving he had overcome his foot injury.
"Ben didn't play well. I think he would be the first to admit that,'' Folkes said. "Maybe he started to believe some of his own publicity. He had a shocker and rightly he was pretty dirty on himself. But he's still only young and you have experiences like that and that's how you learn.''
After missing the entire pre-season, Sherwin orchestrated two tries and laid on another during the curtain-raiser. "I thought he (Sherwin) played okay and his kicking game was quite good,'' Folkes said.
"But I think he needs to earn his spot. Ben has done enough in the trials and in the off-season to think he's worth another chance. Shifty has only had one game and has hardly run. Although he went okay, he needs to be consistent with it ... we'll wait and see.''
Unable to match the intensity and aggression of the Panthers, Folkes placed blamed for the loss on the short turnaround following their opening-round loss to the Knights last Sunday. Bulldogs lock Reni Maitua was frank in assessing his side's performance.
"People have tried to make up excuses for us that it was a short turnaround and the weather,'' Maitua said. "But they played in the same conditions and we had five days to freshen up. It was embarrassing. It's the embarrassment that hurts more than anything.
"We pride ourselves on our defence, but we were just so scrappy and the intensity wasn't there. We never got out of first gear, it was a lazy performance. We've just got to stick together, though. We're going to have tough times all year.
"I guarantee you that every team in the competition will lose by a smashing at one stage during this season.''
Five-eighth Daniel Holdsworth added: "Folksey said after the match, 'let's never perform like that again this year'. He wasn't very happy. It was embarrassing, especially at the end when they were scoring at will.''
The Bulldogs could suffer a further blow with Test forward Willie Mason limping at yesterday's recovery session after picking up a foot injury.
Mason's injury will be assessed this week and he could miss the Titans match, but Bulldogs officials didn't feel it was a serious problem. Holdsworth was also battling a biceps injury.
Source: Daily Telegraph
