Canterbury face a nervous wait to know whether Tony Williams will be available for next week’s start to the NRL finals.
Williams was placed on report for a shoulder charge on Gold Coast’s Aidan Sezer late in the Bulldogs’ golden point loss to the Titans on Sunday.
The NSW State of Origin player’s late hit on Sezer was the icing on an unpalatable cake for Bulldogs coach Des Hasler as his team blew an 18-point halftime lead at Robina.
From the resulting set after Williams’ penalty the Titans levelled through Brad Takairangi’s late try before William Zillman’s field goal in golden point sealed a remarkable 19-18 win.
Tim Lafai, James Graham and Reni Maitua helped open up an 18-0 lead by the 36th minute before a bizarre moment involving Josh Reynolds after the halftime siren.
Playing in his first match following a three-game suspension, Reynolds casually threw the ball to Titans’ winger Anthony Don and the Bulldogs pivot continued running off the field for the dressing sheds.
But officials ruled Reynolds was still in play and penalised him for a deliberate forward pass.
The NSW State of Origin five-eighth then had to scramble back from the dressing sheds as play resumed but was relieved when his teammates defused the situation shortly afterwards.
That moment seemed to alter the momentum of the match as the Bulldogs switched off in the second 40 to allow the Titans back into the game.
Tries to Kalifa Faifai-Loa, Don and Mark Minichiello got them close before Takairangi’s late leveller, with Daniel Mortimer hitting the post on the conversion that would have put them ahead.
But it wasn’t to deter the Titans, who snapped an eight-game losing streak at home and a six-game losing run overall to end the year on a high.
Williams wasn’t the only player placed on report with Titans duo Tom Kingston and Dave Taylor to also face scrutiny after separate dangerous tackle incidents.
Taylor’s headslam of David Klemmer late in the first half left the Bulldog very groggy and means he’ll also be a concern to Hasler ahead of next week.
