THE Goulburn Workers Bulldogs showed their premiership credentials with a wall-like defensive effort in Saturday’s 12-6 win over competition leaders the Queanbeyan Blues.
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What the visitors lacked in creativity they made up for in defence, strangling the Blues to notch their most impressive win of 2011. A bye the week prior proved no hindrance for the Bulldogs.
Aided by Raiders shadow player and Goulburn Stockmen junior Michael Picker, one of nine fringe NRL footballers sent to Group 8, the Bulldogs held Queanbeyan scoreless for 70 minutes and pinned the home side in their own half with an astute kicking game from Picker, five-eighth Tom Antony and captain- coach James Aubusson.
Restricting the Blues to a solitary try is no mean feat given the Canberra Raiders Cup frontrunners have amassed 334 points in 10 matches so far this season. The win didn’t come without some angst, however.
A disciplined display of football was nearly wasted when the home side bridged a 12-point gap with 10 minutes left to play. A comfortable 12-0 lead turned to a nervous six-point buffer for the Bulldogs, whose only blemish in defence was exposed by regular Blues’ try-scorer Dennis Gordon.
Goulburn attempted to put the game out of Queanbeyan’s reach with a field goal. Picker botched the opportunity, however, and the Bulldogs required a final defensive effort the secure the points. To the disappointment of the pro-Blues crowd at Seiffert Oval, the Bulldogs held on.
“We’ll take it,” Goulburn backrower Mick Dodson said yesterday. “They had a couple blokes out and we had a pretty strong team… It’s always good to beat the Blues.” The win keeps the Bulldogs in the top four for another week and with victories over the top two teams this season, confidence at Workers Arena is high.
All their good work will be brought undone with a loss to bottom-placed Gungahlin this weekend. Dodson indicated complacency wouldn’t be an issue for the Bulldogs, who head into round 13 on a three-game winning streak.
“To be honest, I can’t believe they’re on the bottom of the ladder,” he said of the Bulls. “That was our toughest win of the first round. They should have a pretty strong team, with the return of some of their Raiders. It’s going to be hard game for us.” Coach Aubusson has a reasonable platform to work from. Since the opening round the former Sydney Roosters hooker has maintained his team’s defence is the cornerstone to their game.
In attack, the Bulldogs have been reasonable too. The 2009 premiers have averaged 27.6 points-a-game over the course of the season. And while they struggled to break the Blues’ line on Saturday, tries to Codie Medway and Nathan Williams were enough to set up the victory.
He has the added advantage of playmaker Picker. The 22-year-old Bigga-raised played kicked an important 40/20 and showed solid all-round form in his first hitout with the Bulldogs. With an NRL debut hinging on an injury to either Sam Williams or Josh McCrone, it’s likely Picker will spend the rest of the year with Goulburn.
