The Bulldogs end-of-season run wound down with a 30-14 victory against a Broncos side who looked under-prepared and off the pace for nearly the entire contest at ANZ Stadium tonight.
Canterbury opened the scoring in just the third minute of the game. Brisbane's Matt Lodge dropped the ball in Brisbane's first set of the game. In the ensuing set, Lachlan Lewis took advantage of the Broncos right-side defence rushing up and in. Lewis sent an unorthodox long ball to the unmarked Nick Meaney, who dived over to score in the corner. Meaney was unable to convert from touch.
In the 11th minute Meaney kicked a penalty goal. A minute later Jayden Okunbor leapt up to compete for a bomb, he loses the ball backwards in the contest. The ball falls into the hands of Josh Jackson, who falls over the line for a try. Meaney converts.
With just 6 minutes remaining in the first half, Brisbane finally got themselves onto the board. They caught the Bulldogs left side defence short and sent some regulation catch and passing allowed Kotoni Staggs to slip through and score a good try. Jamayne Isaako was unable to convert.
The Broncos crossed again with 90 seconds remaining in the half when a bomb by Anthony Milford was taken cleanly by Staggs, who the strolled in for an easy try. Isaako converted from right in front.
In the 49th minute, the Bulldogs added to their score when Lewis again capitalised on the Broncos right-side defence. This time he chipped over the top and found Meaney unmarked, who caught the ball on the full and scored. Meaney then converted.
Seven minutes later the Dogs scored again when a Hopoate cut-out pass put Meaney over for his third try of the game. Meaney's sideline conversion was perfect.
The Broncos hit back in the 65th minute when Milford shrugged out of a tackle to score a soft try. Isaako took a quick shot at goal but hit the upright.
In the 70th minute, the Bulldogs put the result to bed when Hopoate caught a bomb, spun out of a tackle, then sent the ball wide to the right to Reimis Smith who stepped inside a defender to score a good try. Meaney converted.
Right on full time the Bulldogs received a penalty and debutant Morgan Harper had a shot at penalty goal but it was waved away.
Canterbury will look to build on their solid end to 2019 over the off-season and into the 2020 premiership, while Brisbane await tomorrow's result to see where they finish.