True Blue Josh Jackson has been the shining light in helping the Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs make it to consecutive NSWRL Jersey Flegg Cup Grand Finals, according to his players.
Luke Smith, who wears the No.12 jersey Jackson wore for the Bulldogs in the 2012 NRL Grand Final, says the Under 21s team owed a huge debt to the former NSW Origin and Test back rower in keeping the team’s consistent quality.
“Jacko is an awesome coach, an awesome bloke,” Smith told nswrl.com.au as the Bulldogs prepare to defend their 2023 title against the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in 2024 at CommBank Stadium on Sunday (29 September).
“Everyone just respects him a lot. Every time Jacko says something or shows us something he’s got everyone’s attention. We all buy into it because he’s been there and done it a million times.
“We certainly look up to him as a footy player and a coach. Having him around us is so awesome.”
When Smith is out on the field looking around at his teammates, two endear immediate confidence.
“Having Cassius Tia (halfback) there is a good feeling, because he’s an absolute freak, and having Reuben Moyle, our hooker, in the middle is always a bonus. We’ve got strike throughout but I look to those two boys – I’m really proud of them.”
For Sharks captain and lock Sam McCulloch he derives a lot of encouragement from his props.
“I love playing with my two front rowers Lachie Crouch and Salesi Ataata. They are two big boys leading the way in the middle and making my job a lot easier,” McCulloch said.
“Felix (Faatili) coming off the bench is also really good. He doesn’t hype himself up much but that run last week certainly got him noticed. He does have some speed on him so always good to see him in open space.”
Faatili came off the back fence last week for a 70-metre bust in the Preliminary final win (38-18) over the Canberra Raiders, which led a try to half Taj Ford off the next set.
It was yet another indicator of the never-say-die Sharks mindset since Round 20. They won the last six games of the regular season to get into the Jersey Flegg finals and have survived three sudden-death matches since.
“We’ve come a long way from where we were earlier in the year. We’ve found some form and it’s been a very nice feeling,” McCulloch said.
“Belief and lots of confidence around us at the moment. It’s a good group that works very hard for each other at training, put in a lot of effort for each other.”
Smith says the Bulldogs will leave nothing in the tank, proving that theory in the 85-minute Major Semi-final win over the Raiders 15-14. It took two periods of extra time and then five minutes of golden point before Tia’s third attempt at a field goal sailed over.
“A hundred per cent we know we can deal with tension. We’ve been preparing the whole year that anything could happen,” Smith said. “So if the game goes for 80, 90 or 100 minutes we’ll just keep playing.”
In tight games McCulloch is glad he has No.7 Riley Pollard on his side. The halfback has kicked 68 goals this year, including 13 from 14 attempts in the past fortnight – the Minor Semi-final win over Penrith (40-26) and the Preliminary final victory.
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