Wests Magpies have come from behind to bag a point against a strong Bulldogs side at Accor Stadium.
Match: Bulldogs v Magpies
Round 14 -
home Team
Bulldogs
7th Position
away Team
Magpies
11th Position
Venue: Accor Stadium, Sydney
After trailing 24-14 at half-time, a strong second half from Western Suburbs ensured the points were shared in this wet and rainy Round 14 thriller.
The home side rocketed out to an 18-0 lead after just 17 minutes, with things looking ominous for the Magpies early in the contest.
However, Wests hit back not long after, with three quick-fire tries of their own.
Brent Naden capitalised on a neat Kurt Falls grubber kick to score the first, before back-rower Luke Jack crashed over from dummy half.
A narrow short-side raid produced Wests’ third four-pointer, with Naden turning provider when he sent big Izaac Tu’itupou over in the corner.
Logan Spinks scored late in the first half for the Dogs though to make it 24-14 at the break.
Charlie Staines' diving effort kicked off the second-half point-scoring, before Spinks and Jonathan Sua hit back with their second tries of the afternoon.
From there though, the Magpies came storming back into the match.
Tu’itupou again dove over in the left corner via a Naden pass and just five minutes later, a well-worked Magpies move culminated in Luke Laulili’i offloading to Staines for his second try.
With Wests down by just four points in the 77th minute, Tu’itupou secured his hat-trick to level proceedings.
Kurt Falls couldn’t convert from the sideline in the teeming rain though and Mitchell Woods missed with his late field goal attempt to ensure this match would end a 34-34 draw at Accor Stadium.
Bulldogs 34 (Spinks 2, Sua 2, Woods, Hughes tries; Taaffe 5/6 goals) drew with Magpies 34 (Tu'itupou 3, Staines 2, Naden, Jack tries; Falls 3/7 goals) at Accor Stadium.
