There would be no answering of critics for Jarryd Hayne, nor the Gold Coast Titans. With little to play for, they played like a team with very little. Maybe Neil Henry wasn't the perfect coach. Or maybe the Titans of 2017 just aren't a particularly good rugby league team.
You know that rebound clubs can get when a coach gets fired and they go through a week of upheaval? Yeah, nah. At Cbus Super Stadium on Saturday afternoon, with the time-honoured Crisis Cup on the line, it was the Bulldogs that wanted it that little bit more, winning a predictably mediocre affair 26-14.
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Bulldogs hold off Titans
Canterbury ride a fast start against Gold Coast to record their ninth victory of the year.
It was 20-0 to the visitors by half-time, the first occasion all season the Dogs had put on more than a dozen points in the opening 40 minutes of a match. They did most of that without halfback Moses Mbye, who was hit late and high by Jarrod Wallace after 17 minutes and failed his HIA.
After the match, Hayne spoke like the ultimate team player, saying he felt in a good head space going into the match despite his central role in the drama that had engulfed the club.
"I felt alright. The biggest thing is just playing footy. That's what helps the most," Hayne said, not long after stand-in coach Terry Matterson had described the team as a "shattered group".
"It disappointing how we started but through that first 10 minutes of the second half, we kicked into gear for a bit. It's disappointing we couldn't go on with it and those things help you get your confidence back."
When asked about his form, which has been the subject of as much scrutiny as his role in the team dynamic, Hayne wass back on the right script, saying they needed to lift as a group.
"It's a team effort and as a whole squad we probably haven't achieved what we wanted to achieve at the start of the year. It doesn't matter what kind of individuals you have in the team, it's about everybody banding together. For me, it's about the Roosters next week.
"As a whole, we haven't reached the mark we wanted to reach this year."
The 10,887 fans were waiting for Hayne to do something. Anything. After seeing off Henry, this was the chance to justify his exorbitant price tag and show fans and his employers that he was emotionally invested.
Wait... wait.... and there it was. With 16 minutes to go, Hayne took the ball, wound up for a long kick down the park and sprayed it off the side of the boot. It wobbled over the sideline on the full and he was greeted with one of the biggest cheers of the day.
That it seemed to be both sets of supporters giving him some stick should probably be of some concern for the Titans board and the new coach, who they hope will be in place by the pre-season start in November.
Hayne looked totally disengaged at stages. When the Dogs were running out of their 20 on early tackles, he would have already retreated 60m behind his defensive line. Fullbacks like Billy Slater tend to hang around and pester their defenders into action before reversing for the kick return.
He did have some decent enough moments, making a few good tackles that stopped some promising Bulldogs raids. But this was a match where he was supposed to be bursting with energy and ambition to hush the critics. It simply didn't happen.
Nathan Peats was another casualty, leaving with 20 minutes to play after suffering a shoulder injury. He subbed himself off almost instantly but did play long enough offer up this half-time insight to Fox.
"It's the same story the last six weeks. Giving away shitty last-tackle penalties and silly errors. We're defending our arses off and are out on our feet. I'm just getting over it. We just need to improve."
That they do. It ended in farcical scenes for the home side when Ash Taylor, spruiked as one of the best young halves in the game, picked the ball up on his line, ran a few metres and passed it straight to a slightly stunned Josh Morris.
Like Cher, Taylor wanted to turn back time. It's worth watching the replay just to see the look on his face when he realised his error.
As for the Dogs, they did more than enough with limited luck on the injury front. The first half produced some entertaining rugby league and Will Hopoate managed to break his 2017 try-scoring duck, crossing for a double.
Hasler lives to fight another day. Neil Henry has already gone. Now, what to do with a plane named Hayne?
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