Star winger Josh Addo-Carr says the Bulldogs “can’t feel sorry for ourselves” after they fumbled and bumbled their way to a 16-6 loss to Newcastle at Suncorp Stadium on Friday night.
The error-riddled defeat plunged the Bulldogs to 16th on the ladder with a 2-8 record – the last spot they wanted to be after an off-season spending spree that netted the likes of Addo-Carr, Matt Burton and Tevita Pangai Jnr.
After going into half-time at 6-6, Canterbury faded fast in the second half to finish with 14 handling errors, completing just 23 sets out of 35, missing 27 tackles to Newcastle’s 14 and making no line breaks for the match.
Addo-Carr scored Canterbury’s only try from a Burton grubber kick in the first half to take his career Magic Round tally to six four-pointers.
But with the Doggies spilling so much ball, he had limited opportunities.
Addo-Carr jumps on a Burton kick to score
“We put ourselves under a lot of pressure and released the pressure on them…we are working harder than what we should,’’ Addo-Carr said.
“We are doing some really good stuff but it’s about being consistent with it … the first-tackle plays, the errors, are just letting us down. We are not giving ourselves a chance with those errors.”
The Bulldogs have seven days to regroup before facing Wests Tigers in round 11 and Addo-Carr says the turnaround starts on the training track.
“If you are consistent at training, you’re going to take it onto the footy field. We can’t sit around and feel sorry for ourselves,’’ he said.
Bulldogs: Round 10
“We’ve got to train good, prepare good and go out with a good attitude. It’s as simple as that.’’
Bulldogs coach Trent Barrett wasn't about to sugar coat his team's performance.
“They are courageous and they try hard but that’s not good enough to win you a game in the NRL, you’ve got to control the footy,’’ said Barrett.
“Until we learn to cut out those individual errors and build pressure and come up with the right kick at the right time, it’s the same every week.
“Across the board we are making too many errors and making it too hard on ourselves… everyone needs to have a look at themselves.’’
Barrett said back-rower Corey Waddell looked pretty “sick” in the sheds post-match after suffering a concussion while attempting a tackle on Mitch Barnett in the second half.
