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Bulldogs bust the Bunny Streak
Bulldogs 34 def South Sydney 10

The big clash between new found rivals the Bulldogs and South Sydney turned into a one horse race tonight at Telstra Stadium as the Bulldogs totally outmuscled the Bunnies.

While the Rabbitohs did get on the board first with an impressive Peachy try, from there is was all one way traffic - with the Bulldogs forward pack really walking the talk and totally outshining the Souths equivallent.

Big Willie who this week featured heavily in the media to promote the match was at his passionate best. Blockbusting hit-ups and bone rattling hits in defence by Mason were encouraging his brothers in arms to do the same.

Souths never really looked like getting on top, and become increasingly frustrated with the up and in defence from the Bulldogs. The Rabbits forwards were starting to lose ground with the ball, the backs ran sideways and penalties began to be given away as they struggled to win the arm wrestle.

The Bunnies did need a big test like tonights match-up with the Bulldogs and Taylor will be able to learn more about his team from tonights showing. The scrumbase combination of Joe Williams and Jeremy Smith has been spoilt so far in NRL 2007; their forwards have been so far ahead of opposition packs that it gave the 2 halves so much time to pick and choose their plays. Tonight was different, the Bulldogs were winning the forward battle and the Souths halves must learn to play with much great reaction time and be able to alter attacking structures to suit the situation.

The Bulldogs will garner plenty of confidence and more importantly another 2 points from their outing. Sonny Bill Williams looked comfortable for his first run of 2007, and new young guns Darryl Millard and Kane Cleal both bagged tries and looked classy for the Bulldogs. Young winger Trent Cutler also continues to prove he is of first grade standard. Continuing to start in place of Matt Utai for the Bulldogs, Cutler was bulletproof in defence and scored 2 tries himself - in one of the tries he put a beautiful fend and spin on Mellor and beat 3 defenders to the line. I'm sure we'll be seeing and hearing plenty more about Cutler.

I'm sure that Asotasi and Co. will also be hearing plenty from Wille Mason and friends all week - after the former team-mates finally settled their score tonight on the field.

Canterbury Bulldogs 34 (Trent Cutler 2, Kane Cleal, Daryl Millard, Hazem El Masri tries; Hazem El Masri 7 goals)
Defeated
South Sydney Rabbitohs 10 (David Peachey, Nathan Merritt tries; Joe Williams goal)

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