The NRL expects a massive King's Birthday bank holiday crowd at the Sydney Olympic stadium for the clash between the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs and the Parramatta Eels.
High-profile mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin will start on the bench for the Bulldogs against the team he spurned to join the Canterbury side.
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Key Events
- Lachlan Galvin to make his Bulldogs debut 1 hours ago
- Bulldogs vs Eels team news 1 hours ago
36' Kikau is in the sin bin! My goodness!
33' Iongi the goalkeeper. That was amazing all round. Stephen Crichton cushioned a high kick with his boot to volley it towards the goal line, but Isaiah Iongi was there and he caught it on the full and raced away with a half-line break. Brilliant football - of any code - right there.
31' Matt Doorey off for an HIA. Nasty looking hit there, friendly fire from the Eels as Matt Doorey nails Kelma Tuilagi as both try to make a tackle. He looked like he was struggling so he's off the field.
27' Josh Addo-Carr with a magical take. The intensity out there is remarkable. Josh Addo-Carr just took a brilliant aerial ball under serious pressure from Bronson Xerri. Then Max King just nailed Dylan Walker with a massive shot as the Eels try to move the ball out. Walker is in the wars, he is then flattened by a charging Montoya after an Eels deep kick.
24' Eels on the charge! Brilliant from Parramatta! Mitch Moses is passing like a bullet out of hand, Penisini and Lomax combine to get up the right wing. Then the Eels shift the ball to the left and Josh Addo-Carr manages to break a handful of tackles to get to within 10 metres of the line before being tackled on the last. Great, inventive, expansive play from the Eels in the wet. Mitch Moses is having a day already.
20' Montoya crashes over! The crowd erupts in the rain! Matt Burton shifted the direction of the attack to the short side. Burton got the ball to Bronson Xerri, whose quick hands found an unmarked Marcelo Montoya on the left wing. Kikau was the decoy runner, it was great vision from the start of the move through to its conclusion by Matt Burton. And the Bulldogs are back in front. Crichton is going to kick for goal again, taking the kicking duties from Burton, and he nails it. The score is 12-6.
15' Isaiah Iongi bundled into touch. That's brilliant from Stephen Crichton. He manages to get across as Isaiah Iongi burst through the line on the left side and wrest him sideways into touch. That's superb from the Blues centre.
13' Daniel Suluka-Fifita on report! What a monster shot from Daniel Suluka-Fifita! No attempt to wrap with the arm, a massive shoulder from the Bulldogs forward earns him a little talking to from the judiciary.
12' MOSES MAGIC! MITCH MOSES GOES THE LENGTH OF THE FIELD! Zac Lomax got in the way of a pass out wide, tapping it up to himself on the sideline. He dishes it off to Moses and off the Blues half went! Connor Tracey almost managed to chase him down. A brilliant 80-metre sprint from Mitch Moses to dive over in the corner. Lomax will have to sideline conversion attempt, AND HE NAILS IT! It's 6-6!
10' Wet conditions causing havoc. Oh no, Ryley Smith tried to pass but put it behind Josh Addo-Carr and it's knocked on as he tried to grab it. Not a great start from the Eels hooker.
8' INTERCEPT FROM BURTON! OFF THE SCRUM MATT BURTON READ THE TRICK PLAY AND RACED 60 METRES FOR THE TRY! MAGNIFICENT FROM BURTON! The Eels set up to go left off the centrefield scrum, shifted right and Burton just read Ryley Smith's pass like a book. He popped up in the line, took the ball and raced all the way home. The kick is good and it's a 6-0 start for the Dogs.
7' Bailey Hayward coughs up the ball. Poor stuff from the lock, who just took his eyes off the ball and dropped it.
6' Kikau lays a shot! Kelma Tuilagi runs into a wall in the shape of Viliame Kikau and the pair bounce off each other! Huge hit!
5' Eels defence stands firm! Daniel Suluka-Fifita knocks the ball on! That's a brilliant piece of defence from the Eels, who stood firm despite having to make about 12 tackles in a row. The Bulldogs were battering themselves against the Blue and Yellow line, but it would not breach.
3' Six again for the Bulldogs. Sean Russell got under the kick and it hits him on the chest and bounces back to the Bulldogs! A great field position for the Bulldogs. A set restart for inside the 10 after a half-break from Viliame Kikau. Now another set restart. The Bulldogs hit at the Eels line and earn yet another set restart! That's three in this passage of play!
2' Boos for Addo-Carr. Once a Bulldog, you can never leave is the approach from this big crowd as Addo-Carr takes a hit up for the Eels and gets a resounding boo from the blue and white faithful.
1' The Eels kick things off. And it's NSW Origin hero Max King who brings it back into contact and is met by the monstrous shoulder of Junior Paulo. The crowd is huge and roaring the Bulldogs on. Terrific atmosphere.
Galvin a late nomination for ‘Barnet of the Year’. YIKES!!! - KB The contenders are legion. Genuinely.
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