A dramatic 45-metre golden point field goal by Bulldogs five-eighth Moses Mbye left the young Wests Tigers shattered after they coughed up an 18-point second-half lead.
The Bulldogs showed true grit to bounce back from a 24-6 defect to win 25-24 in the 84th minute. Luke Brooks and James Tedesco starred in the youngest-ever Tigers side, but it was the Bulldogs who scored three tries in the final 21 minutes to clinch a come-from-behind win. It was a game where Josh Morris brushed the monkey off his back when he ended his one-year try-scoring drought for the try that would send the match into golden point.
Winger Curtis Rona scored a double for the Bulldogs while Tedesco scored twice for the Tigers.
Brooks had two shots at field goal and looked certain to wrap up the game for the Tigers but missed a regulation shot from 15 metres out, which would have given them an unbeatable seven-point lead late in the contest. The Bulldogs then marched up the field for Morris to score. Bulldogs halfback Trent Hodkinson had his own attempt at a one-pointer in golden point, but missed before lining up again. With pressure on Hodkinson, he pushed a desperate pass to Mbye who kicked the winner.
The Tigers raced in three tries in the opening 16 minutes of the second half in front of 20,121 people at ANZ Stadium.
Both sides were missing a stack of players with the Tigers without Aaron Woods and Dene Halatau while the Bulldogs lost Brett Morris in the warm up while Tim Lafai was a late scratching. The Bulldogs' problems were further compounded when fill-in fullback Sam Perrett left the field because of a concussion.
Confusion surrounded the interchange of Perrett's departure with Bulldogs officials left in a heated exchange with sideline officials as they stalled in replacing Perrett. With Perrett in the dressing sheds and Canterbury left with 12 men, the Tigers scored their first second-half try as Brooks raced 75 metres after collecting an errant Greg Eastwood kick. By the time Tedesco scored the first of his two tries, the Bulldogs had barely reset their squad to a full complement.
Tedesco's back-to-back tries within seven minutes came off well-worked Brooks' grubbers to extend the Tigers' lead to 18. As Perrett returned, the Bulldogs crawled their way back into the game.
An easy try from dummy half by Michael Lichaa gave the Bulldogs confidence but it was a cut-out pass that any half would have been proud of by big man Sam Kasiano that found Rona to give him his second try, which had the Bulldogs trailing by six with 13 remaining.
Morris' withdrawal with a calf injury saw Corey Thompson make an unhappy return to ANZ Stadium in his first appearance in the NRL since last year's grand final loss to South Sydney. The winger – who warmed up with the side – dropped the ball as he attempted to play it with his first touch. When Kyle Lovett crossed in the fifth minute for the Tigers the Bulldogs had yet to regain possession as the Tigers capitalised on repeated sets.
A late – and borderline pass to Lovett – from halfback Brooks fooled the Canterbury defence with Lovett racing 10 metres to score his first NRL try.
The Bulldogs would have to wait until the ninth minute to complete their first set. It was in the 16th minute when they would open their scoring with Frank Pritchard dangerous on the left edge, throwing a pass with only millimetres between his ball-carrying hand and the grass to gift Rona a try to join the sides level at six-all.
