Three Key Points: Round 18 v Rabbitohs

The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs face the South Sydney Rabbitohs on the Gold Coast on Sunday July 18, kicking off at 6.15pm.

Below are three things to know about the matchup:

Napa brings up 50

Dylan Napa will run out for his 50th NRL match for the club on the weekend when the Bulldogs play the Rabbitohs on the Gold Coast. Napa arrived at Belmore at the start of the 2019 season following six seasons with the Roosters. He played 20 matches for the Bulldogs in his opening season, made 483 tackles, averaged 130.9 running metres per match as well as 823.8 post contact metres. The 2020 season saw Napa go past 150 NRL matches and on the way appear in 16 games for the club, averaging 116 running metres and 29 tackles per game, as well as 10 tackle breaks and 589.4 post contact metres for the season. As the club heads into round 18, the prop forward has played 13 games to date in 2021 and eyeing his 50th NRL match in the blue and white on Sunday night. The 28-year old has scored three tries from his 49 appearances.

Bulldogs to call Queensland home

The Bulldogs along with the other seven Sydney-based teams will join the Dragons, Knights, Raiders and Central Coast-based Warriors in shifting to dedicated hubs in QLD. The reason behind the relocation of all NSW and ACT-based teams to South-East Queensland for one month, is to minimise the risk of the season being impacted by Sydney's COVID-19 outbreak. Canterbury will be based on the Gold Coast, along with the Rabbitohs, Eels, Raiders and Warriors. All Queensland-based clubs, along with the Melbourne Storm will continue to be based and play home games out of their current home cities. The order of games over the four weeks from rounds 18-21 will not change, nor will the dates and times of when matches are played. What will change is the venues for some matches.

Okunbor included in squad

Outside back and local junior Jayden Okunbor has been named in the 21-man squad for Sunday’s clash with the Rabbitohs. The 24-year old returns to an extended bench for the first time since recovering from a ruptured ACL injury, suffered in Round 20 last year. It’s been 10 months since the injury, but after a thorough rehab and recovery process, Okunbor is ready to go and take his first steps back onto the football field. He has played 13 NRL games, scored six tries, averages 168 running metres per game and has produced 13 line breaks from as many appearances.