Round 7
Bulldogs 14 l. Sea Eagles 40

2006 NRL Telstra Premiership Index [Table] [Draw] [Player Stats] [Club Headlines]

Location: Aus_NZ > National > First Grade Competition: NRL Telstra Premiership

Folkes slams Bulldogs effort
Mon April 24, 2006
Normally reserved coach Steve Folkes has come out and apologised to fans after the club's 40-14 demolition at the hands of the Sea Eagles at Telstra Stadium this afternonn.

Folkes was scathing over the performance of his side,

"It was extremely disappointing, unacceptable really, we committed every error known to man today and they usually put a six pointer on the back of it," Folkes said.

"No excuses, we were disgraceful really.

"On behalf of the team I want to apologise to our supporters and our sponsors, because it's just unacceptable."

Folkes is not normally a coach who would come out and make such statements, even after some of the Bulldogs more indifferent performances since their premiership win in 2004. Today he watched his side capitulate in all facets of the game from attack and defence.

Even more worrying to the Bulldogs is their lack of penetration and cohesion in the halves in which Folkes riskily adjusted two weeks ago moving two players out of position and dropping key halfback Brent Sherwin to premier league.

That decision was further compounded with Sherwin suffering a broken hand last weekend. The besieged halves combination of Maitua and Holdsworth delivered unconvincing wins over the Raiders and Rabbitohs but were horribly exposed today.

With Sherwin out of action and the Bulldogs premier league side one of the worst performing sides in that competition, coach Folkes is left with little option to persist with the combination.

Its unfair to point the finger at the pair for the loss with the Bulldogs poor handling and lack of intensity paramount to the loss.

The Sea Eagles on the other hand played a simple but effective game plan of completing their sets and dominating the Bulldogs in field position.

After opening scoring in the second minute following a Bulldogs mistake in their first set of the game, the Eagles quickly ran to a 12-0 lead in the opening 8 minutes with two tries to Matt Orford.

The second was gifted to them when Matt Utai dropped the ball trying to make it out of his own in goal, the ball coming loose as he was monstered by three manly defenders.

The Bulldogs hit back with Tonga finishing a nice backline movement to score in the corner- a fleeting glimpse of the Bulldogs potential, but probably their only cohesive play in attack all game.

Manly extended their lead to 28-6 by the halftime break following two tries to Paul Stephenson and one to Matai following a mix up between Patten and El Masri covering a grubber.

Stephenson's second try came minutes before the break to cripple the back of the Bulldogs, the Manly winger leaping high over the shorter Matt Utai to score in the corner.

The Bulldogs rallied after halftime and on the back of a determined Sonny Bill Williams try and a try on the back of some desperate second phase play to Matt Utai, but neither try was converted from outwide by El Masri, leaving the Bulldogs still well short.

Ben Kennedy put paid to any famous comeback capitalising on a poor pass out of dummy half by Bulldogs hooker Corey Hughes that half Daniel Holdsworth was unable to collect properly, the Bulldogs propping up in the air for Kennedy to collect and race 40 metres to score under the posts.

A late try to Steve Bell extended the score to 40.

Manly coach Des Hasler was full of praise for his sides performance and paid tribute to half Matt Orford on his best game for the club this season.

"He's really settling in now, showed good composure out there, scored two tries himself, kicked six goals, had a hand in another couple. He was very good." said Hasler.

"There's some very good signs there and the forward pack is going very well,"

"I just thought we need a bit of a rev up after last week because we've got the talent to win games and we weren't winning them.

"It's a bit early to get carried away but if we don't make mistakes, we can compete with anyone. If we play to the standard that we can, we're going to be hard to beat."

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