Frustrated Canterbury coach Trent Barrett believes his team’s failure to execute under fatigue has cost them at least three victories including Saturday’s 30-20 loss to Gold Coast at Cbus Super Stadium.
Barrett’s Bulldogs produced their highest score of the season with their four-try effort against the Titans, but despite pulling to within four points going into the final 10 minutes they were unable to storm home to snatch the win from the AJ Brimson-inspired Titans.
It was a case of so close yet so far for Barrett who believes his team are just lacking the finishing touches or ability to withstand pressure under fatigue to compete for the full 80 minutes and it’s costing them dearly.
Bulldogs halves Jake Averillo and Brandon Wakeham both came up with try assists but there were far too many passes that went to ground and last-tackle options where prop Dylan Napa was left the kick that had the coach scratching his head.
“We are in games and there’s a lot of effort there but we’re not good enough for long enough periods and we’re still not building enough pressure," Barrett said.
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“We are not good enough when we are fatigued, offensively and defensively.
“At crucial times in the game we are not good enough when we are tired and we’ve got to learn to do it. I know we’re young but that is something we’ve got to learn to do.
“The try before half-time was crucial and the try at the death. That’s 12 points. You stop them you win.
“A set of six only goes for 45 seconds and you’ve just got to keep getting through it. At the moment we can’t it at clutch times in the game.
“We’ve been in a fair few games this year, but those areas we just need to keep working on.”
The Bulldogs have now lost close games to Titans (30-20), Canberra (20-18) and Cowboys (30-18) where they’ve conceded tries late in the game or the half and it’s proven to be their downfall.
“The NRL is a tough competition, you need to compete for 80 minutes under fatigue and the best players can execute under heavy fatigue and we can’t do that at the moment,” he said.
“You get plays like that (Napa kicking on the last) through disorganisation when players are tired. That is happening to us and it’s probably cost us three games I reckon this year.
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“It comes with experience but that is part and parcel of the job. There is a lot to work on and they will keep working on it but its hard every week seeing us lose games when we should have won. We should have won that game and we should have won last week.”
The last-placed Bulldogs face a daunting task against ladder leaders Penrith next Saturday at BlueBet Stadium but they will have Jack Hetherington back from suspension and second-rower Josh Jackson is also a chance to return from a calf injury.
