This week’s special guest on NRL.com chat is Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs winger, Steve Turner.
The former premiership winner and NSW Blues representative will be online this Thursday to give us an inside view on the Bulldogs' slow start to the season, as well their plans to turn it around this Friday night against the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The chat will kick off at 12:30pm (2:30pm New Zealand).
Canterbury winger Steve Turner says he has no regrets over his departure from Melbourne last year, despite the Bulldogs’ woeful start to the season.
While the Storm find themselves in familiar territory near the top of the NRL ladder, Canterbury have won just one from four in 2010 and face a daunting task to get back on track against in-form Wests Tigers on Friday night.
Turner famously turned his back on a deal with the Gold Coast three years ago to stay in Melbourne, where he has since won two premierships, but the speedster told NRL.com today that he has no misgivings over his move north this season.
“Obviously there are always circumstances as to why you have to move on and Melbourne are playing some really good football, but in saying that I’m really enjoying my time at the Dogs,” he said.
“It’s a great club and I’m enjoying the type of football I’m playing as well.
“All of that is in the past now anyway and I’m just focused on doing a good job while I’m at the Dogs.
“I was a Sydney boy before I went to Melbourne and I had six good years down there but I’m really enjoying being back here again.
“I’ve got family here, so has my partner, and we’ve got a new six-week-old girl now too so I’ve got no complaints.”
Ironically, Turner has been one of the Bulldogs’ best since joining the club this season, scoring four tries in five games.
Asked if he was pleased with his form, Turner said: “I am, yeah.
“Even though we haven’t been getting the wins I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been playing.
“I mean, I’ve got my little girl too that puts a smile on my face whenever I come home and that puts everything into perspective anyway, but obviously I’d like us to get back in the winner’s circle and there is no better time to start than this Friday night.”
Among the premiership favourites at the start of the year after coming within one game of the grand final in 2009, the Bulldogs instead find themselves one of five sides – alongside fellow title heavyweights Parramatta – sitting at the bottom end of the NRL ladder with just one win from their five outings.
They looked to have rediscovered their form in Round 3 when they produced a stunning 60-14 thrashing of Sydney Roosters, but have since lost to South Sydney and the Warriors – last week’s effort against the Kiwi side prompting an angry outburst from coach Kevin Moore.
Turner said the Bulldogs have been guilty of moving away from their game plan for long periods but were focused on turning their season around against the Tigers on Friday night.
“We’ve spoken over the past few weeks about doing the things that we can control and doing the things that work for us but we’ve let Kev down in that department so we deserved a bit of a rocket last week,” he said.
“But Kev knows the playing group and he knows we can turn it around.
“The main problem has been lapses of concentration over the 80 minutes.
“The effort is there and at times we’re playing the sort of football we want to play but it’s those little lapses in concentration that seem to be hurting us.
“If we can put together the full 80 and really work together we’ll get the result we want.”
The former premiership winner and NSW Blues representative will be online this Thursday to give us an inside view on the Bulldogs' slow start to the season, as well their plans to turn it around this Friday night against the Wests Tigers at the Sydney Football Stadium.
The chat will kick off at 12:30pm (2:30pm New Zealand).
Canterbury winger Steve Turner says he has no regrets over his departure from Melbourne last year, despite the Bulldogs’ woeful start to the season.
While the Storm find themselves in familiar territory near the top of the NRL ladder, Canterbury have won just one from four in 2010 and face a daunting task to get back on track against in-form Wests Tigers on Friday night.
Turner famously turned his back on a deal with the Gold Coast three years ago to stay in Melbourne, where he has since won two premierships, but the speedster told NRL.com today that he has no misgivings over his move north this season.
“Obviously there are always circumstances as to why you have to move on and Melbourne are playing some really good football, but in saying that I’m really enjoying my time at the Dogs,” he said.
“It’s a great club and I’m enjoying the type of football I’m playing as well.
“All of that is in the past now anyway and I’m just focused on doing a good job while I’m at the Dogs.
“I was a Sydney boy before I went to Melbourne and I had six good years down there but I’m really enjoying being back here again.
“I’ve got family here, so has my partner, and we’ve got a new six-week-old girl now too so I’ve got no complaints.”
Ironically, Turner has been one of the Bulldogs’ best since joining the club this season, scoring four tries in five games.
Asked if he was pleased with his form, Turner said: “I am, yeah.
“Even though we haven’t been getting the wins I’ve been happy with the way I’ve been playing.
“I mean, I’ve got my little girl too that puts a smile on my face whenever I come home and that puts everything into perspective anyway, but obviously I’d like us to get back in the winner’s circle and there is no better time to start than this Friday night.”
Among the premiership favourites at the start of the year after coming within one game of the grand final in 2009, the Bulldogs instead find themselves one of five sides – alongside fellow title heavyweights Parramatta – sitting at the bottom end of the NRL ladder with just one win from their five outings.
They looked to have rediscovered their form in Round 3 when they produced a stunning 60-14 thrashing of Sydney Roosters, but have since lost to South Sydney and the Warriors – last week’s effort against the Kiwi side prompting an angry outburst from coach Kevin Moore.
Turner said the Bulldogs have been guilty of moving away from their game plan for long periods but were focused on turning their season around against the Tigers on Friday night.
“We’ve spoken over the past few weeks about doing the things that we can control and doing the things that work for us but we’ve let Kev down in that department so we deserved a bit of a rocket last week,” he said.
“But Kev knows the playing group and he knows we can turn it around.
“The main problem has been lapses of concentration over the 80 minutes.
“The effort is there and at times we’re playing the sort of football we want to play but it’s those little lapses in concentration that seem to be hurting us.
“If we can put together the full 80 and really work together we’ll get the result we want.”
