Meaney's gory injury compounds Bulldogs' woes

Dean Pay can take solace in the fight in his Dogs, and they'll need more of it as further injuries compounded a meandering 14-8 loss to South Sydney that leaves Canterbury rooted to the bottom of the ladder.

With stars Kieran Foran and Dylan Napa already sidelined by ankle injuries and prop Sauaso Sue suspended, MRI scans on Adam Elliott's ribs will determine whether he joins them for next Friday's clash with North Queensland.

Fullback Nick Meaney is at least expected to be available for the Cowboys clash, despite a gory finger injury that at one point exposed the 21-year-old's tendons and bone before Bulldogs medical staff stitched him up.

Meaney returned to the field late in the 14-6 loss sporting 10 stitches in his left ring finger, and will be sent for scans on Saturday along with Elliott.

"He's had a pretty severe laceration on his finger," Pay said.

"He copped a boot taking up the kick.

"We're going to have to have scans on it and see how bad it is.

"Whether it's nerves or not, it's fairly serious."

Injuries aside, the Bulldogs also battled through a dreary Good Friday clash with less than 30 per cent possession at times, with no points scored from the 26th minute.

Eleven errors and 45 missed tackles made for grim viewing for the 30,040-strong crowd at times, but for the Canterbury contingent it was at least an improvement on last week's 40-4 thumping from St George Illawarra.

In particular Lachlan Lewis's running battle with Sam Burgess – despite conceding some 26 kilos to the big Brit – proved a sight for sore blue and white eyes.

"That's his job," Pay said simply of Lewis.

"They had six or seven sets on our line that we kept defending and kept turning them away.

"Overall I thought we showed a fair bit of resilience today which we haven’t showed yet.

"The most positive thing out of it is that when it got really tough we hung in there for a while, and we kept hanging in there and that was the most pleasing part of it."