The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have come short 24-22 in an epic sudden-death semi-final at Accor Stadium on Sunday against the Manly Warringah-Sea Eagles.
Despite fighting courageously throughout the close contest, two late tries saw Manly move on to face the Roosters, with the Bulldogs' first finals series since 2016 ending.
Captain Stephen Crichton had plenty of influence with a try and a try assist, while Dr George Peponis Medalist Viliame Kikau stood tall with a try of his own and 35 tackles in a whole-hearted performance.
Match: Bulldogs v Sea Eagles
Finals Week 1 -
home Team
Bulldogs
6th Position
away Team
Sea Eagles
7th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
The Bulldogs made the perfect start in the seventh minute after a spilled bomb by Tom Trbojevic gave them field position and quick hands from Viliame Kikau put Jacob Kiraz over in the corner for a 4-0 lead.
On the back of consecutive penalties against the Bulldogs for interference in the ruck it was Manly hitting back through Tommy Talau giving the Sea Eagles a 6-4 lead.
Bulldogs Fire Up Early
Four minutes later the Bulldogs answered back in style when Kikau exploded through Trbojevic on the left edge to cross for his fifth try of the season and make it 10-6. A perfectly weighted chip kick by Matt Burton set up Stephen Crichton for a try and the Blue and Whites had raced to a 10-point lead.
With the game threatening to get away from them the Sea Eagles struck late in the half when Lehi Hopoate soared high to bring down a bomb and offload to Ethan Bullemor, bringing the half-time score to 16-12 in favour of Canterbury.
Kiraz Opens the Scoring
A huge play from Crichton when he forced Hopoate back into the in goal after the Manly winger had taken a kick gave the Bulldogs a shot at more points but the Sea Eagles held firm.
Come the 47th minute and the weight of possession told as a tap-on by Crichton from a Toby Sexton kick found Skelton, who showed good footwork to get across the line for a 22-12 lead.
Kikau Crosses
The Sea Eagles successfully launched a Captain's Challenge in the 55th minute after a knock-on call against Garrick and scored straight from the scrum to Cherry-Evans, who touched down to make it 22-18.
Skelton Gets His Try
Both teams struggled to break through in the final quarter of the match, but it was the Sea Eagles who struck from a long-range effort, taking a 24-22 lead with time going down.
The Bulldogs continued to fight to keep their season alive with effort on effort plays, and while five-eighth Matt Burton launched two late attempts at a two-point field goal to try and tie the scores, they both fell agonisingly short all but ending the Bulldogs courageous 2024 season campaign.
Match Snapshot
- The Bulldogs dominated the first-half running metres to the tune of 852m to 690m. They completed 19 of 20 sets in the opening 40 minutes.
- Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey ran for 174 metres.
- Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney played his 150th NRL game.
- Bulldogs winger Jeral Skelton came up with 213 metres from 23 runs.
- A crowd of 50, 741 was on hand at Accor Stadium, the final home match of the Bulldogs in 2024.
