Canterbury Bulldogs captain Michael Ennis says his side must use their NRL bye wisely and work on their game after the Sydney Roosters shattered their winning streak.

The 20-18 defeat at ANZ Stadium on Friday night ended a four-match winning run and was just their second loss in their past nine fixtures.

Down 20-6 with less than 10 minutes to go, the Bulldogs piled on 12 quick points, but were clearly second best on the night.

The Bulldogs will retain a spot in the lower end of the top eight irrespective of other results this weekend, but hooker Ennis emphasised they have work to do over their bye week.

“We’ve had a long campaign, 15 weeks straight and now we get a bye and and we’ve got to use it wisely,” Ennis said.

“Time to go and work on our game and also freshen up and make sure that we’re much better with our execution in those areas in a fortnight’s time against Newcastle.”

Pressed on which areas the Bulldogs had to focus on most, Ennis said: “We lost the ground tonight.

“They certainly controlled the tackle and we were probably loose around that area and on the back of that it allows quick play the balls.

“Then your defensive line struggles to get set and that was probably the key area to be honest.

“A few little things with our attack too. We probably weren’t as clinical as we have been.”

Coach Des Hasler was confident English forward James Graham would be fit for the Newcastle game after hurting his back.