Discipline lets Dogs down as inconsistency continues

Canterbury coach Dean Pay lamented his side's attitude across the board following the Bulldogs' 18-10 loss to the Sea Eagles on Saturday night.

Pay went as far as saying the only positive to come out of the performance was that his team only trailed by eight at half-time before being defeated by the same margin.

The Bulldogs had multiple chances to cut down Manly's advantage throughout the second half but were left to rue basic execution and discipline.

"That was the only good thing about it I thought, we were still close enough," Pay said.

"We hung in there but for us we want to start better than what we did. We sort of gassed ourselves and come out in the second half.

"We had six good-ball sets down their end but came up with five errors whether it was a drop ball or seven-tackle set.

"It's an area we need to address and get better at. I thought our attitude wasn't where it needed to be.

"They ran harder and tackled harder than us. That's what it comes down to. We certainly didn't help ourselves, I just thought they started a lot harder than us and had a lot of field position in the first half.

"Some of our errors were poor and I think we came up with five seven-tackle sets. That didn't help."

The Bulldogs were buoyed by the return of Dylan Napa but the late inclusion was unable to make a significant impact with the Sea Eagles dominating the middle of the field in several moments of the game.

Pay remained hopeful injured playmaker Kieran Foran would be on deck for next Saturday's Magic Round clash against the Knights.

"He's a chance next week," Pay said.

"He needs to get through another week of training and we'll see how he is."

Meanwhile, Pay was asked about the Bulldogs' off-field situation after news emerged on Saturday the club intended to let go four members of their football department in coming weeks.

Team manager Andrew Farrar, head of football Gareth Holmes, recruitment manager Warren McDonnell and pathways performance manager Andy Patmore make up a high-profile quartet of Bulldogs staff told their services won't be required going forward.

Pay indicated it was a club decision when asked following the game.

"The club will look into [replacements]," Pay said.

"It's just something that the club has looked into and addressed it."