FOOTSCRAY rattled off 31 unanswered points to claim a 43-20 bonus point win over Endeavour Hills in the Victorian Rugby Union Dewar Shield on Saturday.
The Bulldogs scored the opening two tries of the match but lairised for a patch and eventually coughed up the lead.
Bulldogs coach Junior Naufahu reminded his players at half-time that structures were in place for a reason and they settled down to power on to a crushing victory.
“We started to get out of our structure and began throwing the ball around,” he said. “I got it into the boys’ minds at half-time that we had to slow it down, be patient and play to our structure.
“Once we started going through the motions in our structure, we started getting tries out wide.”
When it rained tries for the Bulldogs, it poured – they crossed the line seven times to make it 22 tries in two weeks.
The Dogs have bullied up on the bottom two clubs in the past fortnight to strengthen their hold on fourth place.
Tim Diack capped a best-afield performance for the Bulldogs with a try. The consistent flanker seems to never play a bad game.
“He really stood up for us and led the boys,” Naufahu said. “His defence around the park and his attack were outstanding.”
Former Melbourne University flanker Calvin Ah Wong is proving one of the recruits of the year.
“You always expect him to make his tackles and really bring those big boys to the ground,” Naufahu said.
Speedy scrum-half Keisuke Yamada is proof that size does not matter, with the general of the side capping a stellar performance with a try of his own.
“His distribution of the ball around the park was outstanding,” Naufahu said.
“He’s got pretty much everything – perhaps the only thing he doesn’t have is size. But if you’ve got confidence and belief in your skills, you can do anything on the field.”
The Bulldogs will host sixth-placed Southern Districts at Henry Turner Reserve on Saturday in an important match in the race for the last finals positions.
