NRL round-22: Knights vs. Bulldogs recap
The Knights hosted the Canterbury Bulldogs in Energy Australia Stadium at home in Newcastle on Sunday.
The Knights were looking to move into a play-off position, and needed to run the table if they wished to get into the post-season.
The Bulldogs were sitting at the bottom of the table, and were hoping to collect two points, against what they felt was an evenly matched Knights team.
Recap
The Knights came out strong, and did not let up for the duration of the match, taking it to the visiting Bulldogs. The home team took an 18-point lead into the half and only improved upon it in the second stanza, winning the game by a final score of 30-6.
The Knights wasted no time getting on the score board with a Kurt Gidley try and conversion to give them a 6-0 lead in the seventh minute.
The game slowed down for nearly 20 minutes until the home team got their game plan together. Afterwards, Shannon McDonnell crossed the whitewash for a try in the 24th minute, and Isaac De Gois scored a try of his own in the 30th. Both scores were met with Gidley conversions and the Knights took a commanding 18-0 lead into the half.
After the break the home team continued to control play, as Cooper Vuna scored only two minutes into the half. Gidley continued his strong day at the tee, and nestled the kick between the uprights for his fourth conversion, and a 24-0 Knights lead.
Adam MacDougall score again in the 60th minute, and the lead was pushed to 30-0.
It was not until the 68th minute that the Bulldogs were able to put up their first and only set of points, with a Ben Barba try and a Bryson Goodwin conversion.
The late score was too little too late, and the Knights cruised to a 30-6 victory over the Bulldogs.
Gidley preformed very well for the Knights as he was perfect at the tee, and scored the first try of the game. Gidley ended the day with 14 points for the home side. Vanu also deserves recognition as he ran for a game high 186 all-metres-run and scored a try of his own in the 42nd minute.
The Bulldogs meanwhile were simply out matched. They could not generate any brand of offense and were forced to make too many tackles. David Stagg led the side with 48, while Ben Roberts committed four errors for the Canterbury club.
Analysis
The Knights have a tough road to the play-offs, as it is likely they will still need to win their final four games of the season. Nevertheless, the Newcastle club completed the first step in their attempt to get to the post-season by beating the Bulldogs. Nonetheless, next week will prove to be a stiffer challenge as the Knights are forced on the road to take on the New Zealand Warriors.
Mathematically the Bulldogs are still able to make the play-offs, but every team ahead of them would have to lose and they would have to win the remainder of their games in order to do so. It is likely that they will instead spend the rest of the season in the spoiler role.
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