Doubts have been cast over the Bulldogs’ premiership credentials, with Dan Ginnane declaring “they’ve beaten nobody” as question marks linger over their attack.
Canterbury have featured in five games against current top eight teams, for three losses, and just two victories, over the ladder leading Raiders in Round 10, and the Sharks, who currently sit in eighth position, in Round 4.
While Ginnane acknowledged the Bulldogs’ stunning comeback in that victory over the Raiders, where they trailed 20-0 at halftime to recover to win 32-20, he mentioned they haven’t beaten any other genuine title contenders this season.
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“They had a good second half against Canberra and they’ve beaten nobody,” Ginnane said on NRL 360.
“They’ve beaten nobody. And that’s not their fault. They can only beat the teams that they played.”
In their most recent outing, the Bulldogs prevailed 20-18 over the Dragons in Round 20 on Saturday night, with Jethro Rinakama scoring the matchwinning try at the 77th minute, thanks to a brilliant Lachlan Galvin pass.
But Phil Rothfield felt that if the Bulldogs don’t fix their attack, they won’t survive for long in the finals.
“I go back to the first 78 minutes before that great pass was thrown, and I didn’t see enough in Canterbury’s attack to challenge a top four side,” Rothfield added.
“We’ve got seven rounds to go. We’re in the business end of the season and they need to sort it out pretty quickly or they won’t last long in the finals.”
Host Braith Anasta, however, defended Galvin, despite his struggles in the second half against the Dragons, before his matchwinning play.
“The second half I got a little bit concerned because their attack was poor, it really was, and I couldn’t see too much evolution,” Anasta said.
“But then he comes up with the big play to win the game, which is what you need, X-factor, class and under pressure delivering when you need to deliver at the right time of the game.
“I think, Buzz, in three weeks, you can go, you know what, it’s either a failure or it’s a success.”
Ginnane then pressed Anasta, who won a premiership with the Bulldogs in 2004, on whether the Bulldogs could fix their attacking problems in time for the finals.
“My question to you, Braith, can they do this in six weeks?” Ginnane asked.
“It’s not a long time, Braith. And they’ve got Melbourne in Round 25.
“I’m looking at that. I think that’s potentially must-win because that’ll be for top two and Braith, to be honest, I think they’re going to have to get a couple of finals at home if they’re a fairdinkum chance.”
Anasta was optimistic the Bulldogs could fine tune their game in time for the finals, but wants to see their senior players step up.
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“They’ve got some work to do,” Anasta added.
“They can do it. But if you look at the teams that are in form at the moment, Canberra, even Penrith, Brisbane, Manly showed form on the weekend.
“There’s a lot of teams that have levelled up with them now, in terms of the way they’re playing at the right time of year.
“I don’t think it’s just all about Galvin. I think there’s other players in that team that’s form has dropped.
“I really do. And I think that’s actually impacted the team as well. It’s not just about the seven.
“Even their key players. Critta (Stephen Crichton) was really good on the weekend, came up with that individual effort for a try, but even his form over the last month has dropped a little bit.
“(Bronson) Xerri’s injured, (Matt) Burton wasn’t great on the weekend.
“They actually need their big guns to stand up again as they had done for the majority of the year.”
