Canterbury Bulldogs vs Wests Tigers 2014 NRL Round 24 preview, tips and teams

By their Captain’s own admission, the Bulldogs 18 – 16 win over the Eels last week was “huge” in the context of their year and kept them inside of the eight (fifth).

It was a return to the type of play the Bulldogs are best known for with their forwards, led by Tony Williams and Aiden Tolman, scoring two of the three Bulldogs’ tries and laying the foundation for the victory.

Special Offer: $250 FREE BET on Canterbury Bulldogs vs Wests Tigers

The Bulldogs dominated the first thirty minutes of the game and with two-thirds of the possession, were able to establish an 18 – 6 lead before having to dig in for the fight in the second half as the weight of possession balanced itself out.

It was a win that will relieve a lot of pressure for the Dogs who, had they lost, would’ve fallen outside of the top eight instead, they’ll head into this game against the struggling Tigers with a more positive week behind them and look to consolidate last week’s performance.

The Bulldogs have only won two of the last seven at ANZ Stadium but last week’s win should have them back and track and with the final two games of these season being against South Sydney and an improving Titans outfit (on the Gold Coast), who have pushed both the Roosters and Manly in the past fortnight, another win here will be ‘huge’ as well.

Coming off a 64 – 6 pounding from the Cowboys in round 22, the Tigers turned up to Leichhardt in the hope of restoring some pride against the Roosters last week.

Played in trying conditions, the Tigers stuck with the Roosters in the first 40 minutes and only trailed 8 – 0 at the break. Unfortunately for both the Tigers and their fans, that’s were any hope of a possible upset or in the least a competitive effort, finished.

The Roosters ran in three tries within the first ten minutes of the second half, followed by three more in the final quarter of the game, to hand the Tigers yet another thumping 48 – 8.

Over the past three games, the Tigers have conceded 140 whilst posting only 16 themselves.

The only possible bright spot for the Tigers heading into this game is that their only win in the past seven weeks, has been a season best display over the Bulldogs (46 – 18) in round 19.

 

HEAD TO HEAD

The round 19 clash was the first victory the Tigers have posted over the Bulldogs in six matches played since 2011.

Only one of those five wins for the Dogs has been by a 13+ margin but that win came last year when the Tigers were in similar form slump and in the middle of seven consecutive losses.

With the Tigers last six losses all being by 13+ and the Bulldogs, who will be out to redeem their round 19 performance, needing to win to retain their spot in the eight, it’s hard to see anything but a comfortable Dogs victory here.

TIP: Bulldogs -14.5 at $1.92 with Luxbet.com.au + geta $500 FREE BET on the match via this link!

Teams:

Bulldogs: Sam Perrett, Corey Thompson, Josh Morris, Tim Lafai, Mitch Brown, Moses Mbye, Trent Hodkinson, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis, James Graham, Josh Jackson, Tony Williams, Greg Eastwood.
Interchange: Reni Maitua, Dale Finucane, David Klemmer, Pat O’Hanlon, Harlan Alaalatoa (one to be omitted).

Tigers: Kurtis Rowe, Jy Hitchcox, Blake Austin, Chris Lawrence, Cory Paterson, Mitchell Moses, Luke Brooks, Aaron Woods, Robbie Farah, Keith Galloway, Curtis Sironen, Bodene Thompson, Adam Blair.
Interchange: Ava Seumanufagai, Martin Tapau, Sauaso Sue, Jack Buchanan.

Stay up to date with the latest sports news
Follow our social accounts to get exclusive content and all the latest sporting news!