Round 8: Bulldogs v Sharks preview
The injury plagued Canterbury Bulldogs will be looking to end a two game losing streak when they go up against the Cronulla Sharks at Accor Stadium as part of ANZAC Round.
What can you say with the Bulldogs. They have been royally hurt in the injury world with crippling injuries to a number of stars and their forward stocks have also taken a hit. There's now 10 Bulldogs sitting in the casualty ward after Jacob Kiraz's knee injury and Andrew Davey's finger injury Centre Jake Averillo, meanwhile, has prepatellar bursitis and partial tear in his left knee. Bulldogs GM Phil Gould tweeted (for those that aren't blocked) that Averillo will be off his feet for four days and that there is risk of re-injury as the tendon is "definitely part of the problem".
Despite this, the Bulldogs continued to try their guts out and their resilience stopped a 30-4 score-line getting more out of hand against the Eels. This shows the never say die attitude that the Bulldogs fans have wanted to see from their team all season.
For this match against the Sharks, more focus needs to be on the spine. Matt Burton needs to take more control of the team's attack. He's easily the most dangerous player with ball in hand and with less then half the touches Kyle Flanagan had. His effort on the ball will be critical for the Dogs this week. Also, the ability of Max King and Tevita Pangai Jr to win their forward battle will also be paramount for success in the Bulldogs side.
The knee injury to winger Jacob Kiraz sees Declan Casey come into the side while Braidon Burns returns from an ankle injury on the other wing. Centre Jake Averillo (knee) and bench forward Andrew Davey (finger) have been named to play despite suffering injuries against the Eels. Jayden Okunbor has gone from the wing to the bench and Jackson Topine goes to the reserves list.
For Cronulla, they were impressive against an ill-disciplined and out of sync Roosters side. They will be happy with the defensive resilience they had to show on their line for a number of sets. But both tries came off poor defensive reads. On the attacking front, they had a bulk of the possession thanks to a 14-4 penalty count in their favour. They only produced 4 tries but they still caused a number of defensive problems for the Roosters.
Against a depleted Dogs side, one word comes to mind that has haunted the Sharks in the past. Complacency. In the past, the Sharks have played down to competition and lost in awful fashion just like they did in their match in 2021. But this Sharks side is different with Will Kennedy impressing with every passing match and Nicho Hynes getting back to his dominant best it screams a big night for the black, white and blue.
On the team front, Fitzgibbon has stuck with the same side that ran away with the second half against the Roosters.
Last meeting: Round 24 2022 - Sharks 16 Bulldogs 0
Who to watch: One shining light for the Dogs has been the continued emergence of Max King. King has been a great purchase since his 2022 arrival playing in all 31 matches (24 in 2021 and 7 thus far this year). Thus far this season, he's averaging 144 metres with the footy in hand playing on average 60 minutes a week. King has been a quiet achiever in the middle and is now starting to get the recognition he deserves, and I dare say he could be a bolter for NSW at Origin time.
For the Sharks, the focus is on Blayke Brailey. Sharks fans were critical of the little number 9 at the end of last season and to start this season. But last week, he proved the critics wrong with a strong performance. Making on average 45 tackles a game and already running at a higher volume then previous seasons. Brailey is fast becoming a lock in the 17 each week for Craig Fitzgibbon.
The favourite: To the shock of no-body. The Sharks are heavy favourites with the bookies in this one. The Bulldogs have only won two of their past eleven matches against the Sharks.
My tip: The Bulldogs are struck with the voodoo curse that left the Roosters (must've diverted to Belmore). The Sharks will take a lot of confidence from their win last start, they just have a bit too much over their opposition in this one. Sharks by 12.
