Bulldogs win over Titans soured after TWO stars go down with knee injuries — Big Hits

They won but it turned into a horror night for the Bulldogs after star players Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau both left the game agains the Titans on Sunday with knee injuries.

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The 40-24 victory was soured by the MCL injuries in the 27th and 74th minutes to two of Canterbury’s best player, with both now facing at least a month on the sideline.

MATCH CENTRE: Bulldogs vs Titans teams, scores, videos, updates

The Bulldogs stayed ice cold under the searing Sydney sun while the visitors melted in 35 degree conditions in a shocking first-up performance and bizarrely kept their most damaging player on the bench for 50 minutes.

The hosts burst out of the blocks at Belmore and were on fire in front of a raucous home crowd as they raced out to 22-0 after 20 minutes.

Canterbury were in cruise control thanks to tries from Marcelo Montoya, Jaeman Salmon, Reed Mahoney and Josh Curran but when Burton went down it invited the Titans back into the contest.

Gold Coast winger Alofiana Khan-Pereira, one of the fastest players in the NRL, scored two quick-fire tries before halftime.

Canterbury scored the first two tries of the second half through Jacob Preston and Kurt Mann but the Titans scored the next two to set up an interesting finish.

But Connor Tracey iced the game with a long-range try in the 78th minute to make it two wins from two starts for the Dogs in 2025.

Bulldogs supremo Phil Gould tweeted that both Burton and Kikau has suffered grade two MCL injuries and would be out for at least a month.

“I just checked Gus’ Twitter and they’re both getting scans in the next 24 hours, so hopefully we’ll know more then,” Cameron Ciraldo said, with Crichton a chance to move to the halves next week.

“It’s not looking great for them. We’ve got a bye around then, so hopefully we can get both of them back around then.”

Here are the biggest talking points out of the match from NCA Newswire’s Martin Gabor.

HOT DOGS

The only thing hotter than the weather was the Bulldogs who had Belmore rocking from the moment Marcelo Montoya crashed over in the opening minutes.

Everything they touched turned to gold with Kikau offloading to Burton who stormed through to set up Reed Mahoney for a try, while their middle forwards again feasted with a few tries of their own.

NOT SO GOLDEN

They started 2024 with six losses on the trot, and the Titans have shown nothing to suggest that the new season will be much better.

Gold Coast had the bye last week but still looked lethargic to trail 22-0 after just 20 minutes, with a double to try-scoring machine Alofiana Khan-Pereira giving them some hope heading into the sheds.

But the winger dropped a kick a minute into the second half to gift the Bulldogs another try, with the visitors never recovering despite Keano Kino and Jojo Fifita combining for a stunning kick-return try to cut it to 10 points.

DON’T FORGET FIFITA

There’s nothing wrong with keeping David Fifita on the bench to avoid the early carnage, but it makes no sense to keep the wrecking ball on the pine for 50 minutes.

Skipper Tino Fa’asuamaleaui had already come off and gone back on before Fifita finally got his chance, with the game almost gone by the time he was injected into the contest.

Fa’asuamaleaui scored almost instantly, with Fifita well handled and managing just 60 metres from nine carries as the Titans were totally outplayed up front.

“It was just a matter of getting him into the game,” Des Hasler said, confirming Khan-Pereira had a strained calf.

“He came on and provided impact, but when you’re chasing points, it’s not always going to be easy.

“He was coming off a disrupted off-season, but he’ll be better for the run.”

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