A second-half surge was not enough to propel the Dragons past the Bulldogs with Shane Millard's men falling 34-22 in their Jersey Flegg opener in Corrimal.
Rain spat down throughout the contest, but it did little to curtail both sides’ attack as Canterbury came on top in a six-tries-to-four shootout.
A five-minute, three-try spurt in the second half saw the hosts storm back into it, but the Bulldogs managed to keep their poise and gather the competition points.
Match: Dragons v Bulldogs
Round 1 -
home Team
Dragons
10th Position
away Team
Bulldogs
5th Position
Venue: Ziems Park, Wollongong
An opening set error gifted the Bulldogs some early attacking ball with Jope Rauqe reeling in a well-times cut-out to scurry over in the left corner.
A Latrell Fing break saw the visitors surge back onto the attack with Cooper Toy steaming through a hole to slam the ball down and extend their edge to double digits.
Canterbury’s hot start continued soon after with five-eight Bronson Reuben finding more success down the left and diving over as the score ballooned out to 18-nil.
The Dragons found a response a quarter of the way in with Toby Rumble taking in a perfect Lyric Craft-Te Moananui flick and evading the cover to dive over in the corner.
Clay Baldock nailed the extras from the touchline to cut the deficit back to 18-6.
A penalty put the hosts back on the attack, but another mistimed error halted their raid.
Toy poured through and grounded a deft grubber to secure his second for the Bulldogs off the back it.
The Bulldogs found another prior to the break courtesy of Logan Spinks to cap off a dominant opening stanza and take 28-6 lead into the sheds.
The Dragons had several half-chances on the other side of the break but were unable to cash in with the slippery conditions leading to handling issues.
Hayden Buchanan and Jarrah Treweek, who both spent the preseason training with the club’s NRL squad, combined to lay on the first points of the second stanza on the hour-mark with the former utilising a dangerous left-foot step to pour into the backfield and find his supporting second rower on his inside.
The hosts quickly went back-to-back with Rumble and Craft-Te Moananui again linking with Rumble slipping down the right sideline and into space before throwing it back inside to Craft-Te Moananui who finished things off.
Baldock knocked over the conversion to remain a perfect three-for-three from the tee and cut the visitors’ buffer back to 28-18 entering the final 15 minutes.
Jersey Flegg Cup Highlights: Round 1 v Bulldogs
A penalty for a late hit on a kicking Baldock saw the hosts earn another attacking opportunity the following set.
Jesse Williams left the field following a nasty collision pushing Craft-Te Moananui out to the left wing and Tobias Miller into the centres.
A Ryan Hutchinson offload spurred the Red V’s third try in the space of five minutes with some shrewd Brandon Tikinau and Tyler Peckham-Harris hands sending Craft-Te Moananui over untouched.
Canterbury managed to stop the bleeding through William Afualo who held off the Dragons cover to finish off a right-side shift.
