Canterbury Bulldogs

The win meant the Rabbitohs kept their stellar Good Friday form intact, with the Bulldogs unable to beat them on the public holiday since 2017.

However, the match started well for the Dogs who scored the first try with a lovely play from the scrum, sending the ball out wide to the right where Jake Averillo ran almost the length of the field, bringing the ball down under the posts to open the scoring. 

Since the first Good Friday clash between the old rivals in 2007, there has been plenty of big moments, including the fiery 2015 encounter when Adam Reynolds and James Graham took centre stage as the Bunnies prevailed 18-17.

After celebrating his return to the NRL in the thrilling golden point win over the Cowboys on Sunday, club legend Josh Reynolds is set to play his first Good Friday match since leading the Bulldogs to a stunning 24-9 victory in 2017.

Canterbury haven't done that since way back in 2016, while for the Warriors it was 2018, and in both cases it marked the last time either club made the finals. 

The Warriors were impressive in a 26-12 victory over the Cowboys in the Townsville heat in Round 3, holding North Queensland scoreless from the 14th minute onwards and completing 19 of 23 sets in the second half. 

The Bulldogs caused an upset win over the Storm with new recruits Viliame Kikau and Reed Mahoney showing their worth at AAMI Park to help give Cameron Ciraldo his first win in charge of the blue and whites.

Wests Tigers only have themselves to blame for surrendering two matches at Leichhardt Oval in the past fortnight with their expansive style of play coached by Tim Sheens in the summer clearly not working in the early stages. 

Canterbury went in as heavy underdogs but took the game up to Melbourne early and were rewarded with the opening try through second-gamer Jake Preston, who stormed onto a Reed Mahoney pass on the right edge and got the ball down despite the attention of three defenders.

Melbourne found their groove and threatened to grab their first through Nelson Asofa-Solomona but four Bulldogs defenders muscled up and denied the Storm big man.

The victory lifts Parramatta above Souths into fifth place on the ladder with games against the Broncos and Storm to come in the final two rounds.

The Bulldogs drew first blood through a Matt Burton penalty goal in the sixth minute but tries to Will Penisini and Waqa Blake in quick succession had the Eels up 12-2 after 15 minutes.

A mistake by the Eels in the 28th minute gifted the Bulldogs field position and Aaron Schoupp made the home team pay when he left Blake clutching at thin air to grab his eighth try of the season.

Since their bye in Round 13 the Eels have gone L-W-L-W-W-L-W-L, a rollercoaster ride which has seen them spoken about as premiership contenders one week and inconsistent under-achievers the next.

That stretch of games started with a shock loss to the Bulldogs in Round 14 and that's the opponent they confront again this week in front of what us sure to be a raucous crowd at CommBank Stadium.

The Bulldogs looked jaded in Auckland on Friday but they've had a chance to recharge their batteries and will be buoyed by the news of Cameron Ciraldo's arrival as head coach in 2023.

With Tohu Harris and Addin Fonua-Blake turning on the power and Shaun Johnson turning back the clock, the Warriors sent the parochial Auckland crowd home happy with the seven-tries-to-three win.

The Warriors opened the scoring after seven minutes when Johnson put centre Viliami Vailea into a huge hole and the youngster celebrated his return from a broken jaw with a try.

Come Friday night they will find themselves playing a revitalised Dogs team who pushed the second-placed Cowboys all the way in Round 21.

After leading with half an hour to go, the Bulldogs fell just short of footing it with North Queensland but will have taken plenty of confidence from the performance and still have two wins from their last three matches, with their key players in good form.

The North Queensland playmakers were on song with Chad Townsend and Tom Dearden continuing their superb season and Scott Drinkwater at his attacking best with back-to-back tries, cementing the Cowboys third win on the trot.

An unusual start to the game in Bundaberg saw a successful captain’s challenge hand the Bulldogs an attacking opportunity straight out of the gates and a well weighted Matt Burton grubber found Josh Addo-Carr to open the scoring for the Bulldogs.