- As it happened: Bulldogs v Tigers
- Jacob Liddle unlikely to play again this season, says Jason Taylor
- EXCLUSIVE: Eels star allegedly given cash in car park
Two weeks ago Brett Morris virtually turned down any chance of playing the third State of Origin match, a dead rubber, and the $30,000 which would have come with it.
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Bulldogs win fourth straight game
The Bulldogs endure a back and forth contest to beat the Tigers.
On Saturday night, he proved he is worth so much more than that to the Bulldogs, with the former Australian and NSW flyer maintaining his sizzling try-scoring spree as the top-four aspirants wore down a gutsy Tigers outfit.
Morris touched down twice – and was denied on just as many occasions by the video referee – to rack up his sixth and seventh tries in just three games back as the antithesis of the rugby league mercenary continued to dazzle after a long-term knee problem.
At this rate, Morris could conceivably end up near the top of the NRL's try-scoring charts despite missing more than half the season.
It is no coincidence the winger's return has partly triggered the Bulldogs' best run all year – four straight wins – as Des Hasler's side, backed up by powerhouse displays by skipper James Graham and Sam Kasiano, shored up their top-four status with a 32-22 win.
Mitchell Moses' faultless goalkicking had the Tigers in touch – and in fact leading for long periods – but the Bulldogs always looked likely in a pulsating clash despite trailing by 10 points early.
The Tigers' hooking circus took another twist with teenage debutant Jacob Liddle scoring in his NRL debut to further cloud coach Jason Taylor's thinking at No.9.
Missing Robbie Farah (State of Origin) as well as long-term absentees Matt Ballin and Manaia Cherrington (both injured), Liddle's opportunistic second-half try vaulted the Tigers to the lead before the Bulldogs class shone through.
For a game missing a slew of Origin representatives – including the Tigers' record trio – the first half was anything but the stale affair a sparsely populated ANZ Stadium might have expected.
Kevin Naiqama scored and then saved one early on, grounding a deft Moses grubber and then hauling Brett Morris into touch with the try line beckoning.
But you can't keep the Bulldogs ace down for long. At least not this season. He set up Moses Mbye for the hosts' first and then profited from a bizarre exchange where a failed Naiqama intercept and David Nofoaluma tap back had the ball eventually find his way.
It wasn't even close to the most dramatic passage of the opening 40 minutes. That belonged to Melbourne-bound Tigers winger Addo-Carr, who skinned the Bulldogs defence and burst 90 metres for a slashing individual try somewhere between the Morris madness.
The competition's most lethal impact player Kasiano hauled the Bulldogs in front for the first time in the match when his pass released Josh Reynolds for Will Hopoate to score, but Moses' long-range penalty goal on the siren levelled the scores at half-time.
It didn't stay that way for long. Liddle, in any other week caught in the logjam of No.9s at Concord, was in the right place at the right time in more ways than one when a fifth-tackle scramble had the ball shovelled back his way.
James Tedesco's replacement at No.1, Jordan Rankin, should have extended the lead, but his fumble of a Tim Simona kick with the stripe beckoning proved costly.
Contentiously denied by the video referee for a second time in the match, Brett Morris wouldn't be denied two tackles later when he scooted over having been set up by his twin Josh.
It was enough to give the Bulldogs a sniff and Curtis Rona provided the hammer blow, angling back on the inside after a Hopoate pass and brushing off some feeble Tigers resistance.
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