The Canterbury-bankstown Bulldogs hauled themselves back from an 18-6 halftime deficit to beat the Storm 30-20 at Accor Stadium on Friday night, a comeback that looked impossible for long stretches before Jacob Kiraz finished it in the 77th minute.
Kiraz’s decisive try completed the Bulldogs’ biggest comeback win against Melbourne and sent a crowd through a wet, nervy finish after a match that had been drifting toward a sixth straight loss. Dan Ginnane called it what it felt like in the moment: a season-saving moment.
The numbers told the story of how Canterbury stayed alive and then took control. Matt Burton ran for 194 metres and produced nine tackle busts, while Kiraz piled up 245 metres and six tackle busts to go with the match-winner. Bronson Xerri turned in a career-high 226 metres and broke 13 tackles, Max King led the forwards with 140 metres, and Jack Underhill added 82 metres off the bench along with a crucial chargedown.
Even with that output, the Bulldogs had to absorb a brutal run of setbacks. Jacob Preston suffered a broken forearm 12 minutes into the match and is expected to miss several weeks. Viliame Kikau was already unavailable with a torn pec, and Connor Tracey was a late scratching before kick-off, also expected to miss several weeks with a hamstring injury. The team that finished strongest was not close to whole.
Melbourne made Canterbury pay early and led 18-6 at the break, but the second half shifted sharply as the Storm completed just 50 per cent of their sets. Wet conditions made every carry awkward and every error heavier, and the Bulldogs were better at holding their shape when the game began to fray. That was especially important with the Origin-ravaged Storm missing key pieces and unable to sustain the same control after halftime.
Kiraz’s finish had extra weight because he had already been discussed earlier in the year as an Origin bolter, and his night underlined why. Fox Sports commentary described his form as a breakout, but the bigger picture for Canterbury was broader than one winger’s rise. This was a win built on Burton’s kicking and carrying, Xerri’s edge-running, King’s grunt and Underhill’s impact when the bench was called on to change the game.
It also came with a selection question still hanging over the club. Phil Gould has said Lachlan Galvin is not Canterbury’s long-term halfback, a comment that sits in the background of every strong performance from the current spine. For one night, though, the Bulldogs did not need to solve the future. They only needed to stop a slide, and they did that by running down Melbourne when the match was already slipping away.
The result changes the mood around Canterbury immediately. A side that was staring at six losses in a row walked off with its biggest comeback against the Storm, and it did so in a way that suggested the season is still alive if the forwards keep winning ground and the outside backs keep finishing plays like Kiraz did on Friday night.
