
The Canterbury-Bankstown have suffered their second defeat of the season, going down to the Dolphins 44-8 in wet and wild conditions at Accor Stadium. With 10 players unavailable due to Origin duties, injuries and suspensions the new-look team was up against it – but the clash posted as an opportunity to put the Club’s depth to the test. The Bulldogs got on the board first through a penalty goal after Ray Stone was pinged for a dangerous tackle, however the Dolphins responded two minutes later with a Jamayne Isaako try to take a four-point lead. The visitors soon extended their lead by another two when Isaako kicked a penalty goal. But the Dogs hit back in a great moment for Lipoi Hopoi, who scored his first NRL try. The local junior was in the right place at the right time to catch a Matt Burton cross-field kick that was knocked on by the Dolphins. Burton converted to lock scores up 8-all. The Dolphins took the lead on the stroke of half time through Jack Bostock and they picked up where they left off after the break with Harrison Graham’s try taking the score to 20-8. Jake Turpin looked set to celebrate his first NRL game since June last year with a try only for referee Todd Smith to call Reed Mahoney’s pass from dummy-half forward. The Dolphins sealed the win with four unanswered tries in the final 17 minutes scored by Herbie Farnworth, Francis Molo, Jake Averillo and Kurt Donoghue. The Bulldogs will now recover, rest and reset over the bye before the Club’s next home game on the King’s Birthday against the Parramatta Eels. Dolphins 44 (Isaako, Bostock, Graham, Farnworth, Molo, Averillo, Donoghue tries; Isaako 7/7 goals) def Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs 8 (Hopoi try; Burton 2/2 goals)