Canterbury's uninspiring season is officially over after a 16-8 loss to Penrith on Thursday night ended coach Des Hasler's ambitious hope of playing finals football in 2017.
Their fourth loss in five games will only intensify the spotlight on Hasler's term at the Bulldogs, with pressure mounting on club administration from frustrated fans to part ways with the veteran coach.
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Panthers pile more misery on Hasler
The Bulldogs season is all but over after Penrith ground out a 16-8 win.
The Panthers and Bulldogs experienced similar poor starts to the season, but Penrith have turned the corner and continued their surge towards finals football with win No.4 on the trot.
The talk leading into the game once again focused on the future of the Bulldogs coach. Would this be his final season at the club despite only months ago signing a two-year contract extension?
A shellacking, of which there have been a few already this season, would have cast a huge cloud over Hasler's immediate future in a week in which former Bulldogs player Michael Ennis called for the end of Canterbury's Hasler regime.
The margin may have minimised the bite of frustrated Canterbury fans, but there is no silencing the bark of a supporter group growing tired of an uninspiring brand of football.
Asked if he was worried about his future at the club, Hasler said: "No. What's the point in worrying. You can only really play what's in front. Why, should I be worried? I tend not to listen."
The Bulldogs faithful might have got another glimpse of next season's permanent hooker as Moses Mbye continued his transition to the No.9 jersey.
While a lack of organisation and game management continued to plague the Bulldogs in stages of the match, they looked far more potent and likely with Mbye darting out of the ruck than they previously had with Michael Lichaa.
The Wests Tigers-bound Josh Reynolds tried his heart out and scored Canterbury's only try of the night, but his effort wasn't matched by those around him as he could do little to keep his side's slim finals chances alive.
"It's going to be hard from here," Hasler said in realisation that he had failed to reach the finals for the first time since 2004.
"We'll have to let it settle, strip it back and find the reasons why."
The win moves Penrith to equal competition points as the eighth-placed St George Illawarra, whose superior differential has them in a stronger position heading into their round 21 clash with Newcastle this weekend.
The Panthers opened the account with a penalty goal and extended their lead soon after through a fortuitous try to Peter Wallace, who dived on a Dylan Edwards kick that ricocheted off Moses Mbye and then Aiden Tolman for an 8-0 lead.
Canterbury hit back through the man who looked most likely to threaten the line, Josh Reynolds, whose big left foot step and desire to find the chalk saw him burrow his way over to reduce the deficit to two points.
A soft penalty in the ruck against the Panthers, who welcomed back Bryce Cartwright from injury, on the stroke of half time gifted the visitors two points to sent the teams into the sheds with the scores locked up at 8-8.
The second half was a tight struggle fo the first 18 minutes until Dallin Watene-Zelezniak took advantage of a brilliant Waqa Blake pass to give the Panthers the ascendancy heading into the business end of the contest.
Trailing by four points heading into the final quarter of the game, the Bulldogs didn't do themselves any favours when halfback Matt Frawley coughed up possession with his side deep on the attack.
Poor hands once again cost the Bulldogs, with fullback Will Hopoate spilling a Penrith grubber to gift Tyrone Peachey a four-pointer and leave the coach scratching for answers following his side's 12th loss of the year.
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