The Bulldogs defeated the Wests Tigers 16-6 in a largely one-sided contest at Campbelltown Stadium in Round 16 last year.
Frank Pritchard got the ball rolling for the visitors when he charged over on the left edge following a left-side sweep in the 26th minute. That saw the Bulldogs take a 6-nil lead to halftime and they went further ahead when Ben Barba outmanoeuvred the Wests Tigers line defence to be first to a Trent Hodkinson grubber for a 12-nil lead in the 55th minute.
Tigers fans started trudging towards the exits when Bulldogs centre Josh Morris crossed 14 minutes from fulltime for a 16-nil advantage. Wade McKinnon fumbled a Kris Keating grubber just outside his goal-line, with the NSW centre swooping to pick up the loose ball and cross for the simplest of tries.
Tim Moltzen saved some face for the home team three minutes from the siren, scoring off a piece of Robbie Farah ad-lib brilliance. Without picking up the ball at dummy-half the No.9 soccer-kicked the Steeden through the goal-line defenders, with Moltzen winning the chase.
Errors killed the Tigers on the night: they made 14 mistakes to their opponents’ six. Also, they squandered a heap of opportunities, tallying a whopping 40 unused plays (to the Bulldogs’ eight).
Aiden Tolman was a rock up front for the victors, making 21 hit-ups and 140 metres as well as contributing a try assist, while Farah defended stoutly for the Tigers, making 43 tackles.
