Canterbury coach Des Hasler said his team missed a golden opportunity to improve their points differential despite a 30-10 win against the Wests Tigers.
The Bulldogs, who entered the game with a negative differential, raced out to a 24-0 inside the first 30 minute and look set to rack up a score against the out of contention Tigers. But the Tigers rallied to win the second half 10-6.
"It was probably an opportunity missed to go on with it in the second half a bit," Hasler said
"We executed a bit better in the first half and it was a matter of staying healthy towards the end and resting a few blokes."
Captain Michael Ennis said his team went away from the game plan in the second half that saw them score four tries.
"One area I was please with was out first half was the way we stuck to our process and what we needed to do and on the back of that came points," Ennis said.
"We didn't force points we earnt them. In the second half, neither side played any stable football."
Both agreed next week's game against Souths was a good chance to test where they were at against a team Hasler labelled as "premiership favourites".
For the Wests Tigers, coach Mick Potter was proud how his team hung in the game despite a mounting injury toll and seven errors in both halves.
"We defend our line at time well in the second half. To concede points the way we did was disappointing but I was really pleased with our blokes effort," Potter said
"They never gave up. I know the game got away from us early but our blokes kept trying and that was pleasing from my perspective."
Potter said the early diagnosis is that halfback Luke Brooks' suffered a low grade hamstring strain in scoring his 95 metre try. He was also hopeful of getting the services of veteran winger Pat Richards back for their clash against Canberra next week. The Bulldogs expect Sam Perrett (ribs) to back for Thursday's blockbuster against Souths.
