Round 21 Canterbury Bankstwon Bulldogs v North Queensland Cowboys

[TITAN PETE]

SATURDAY

Canterbury Bankstwon Bulldogs v North Queensland Cowboys at ANZ Stadium, 5:30pm (local). #NRLCBYNQL

BULLDOGS: Ben Barba, Sam Perrett, Josh Morris, Krisnan Inu, Jonathan Wright, Josh Reynolds, Kris Keating, Aiden Tolman, Michael Ennis, James Graham, Frank Pritchard, Josh Jackson, Greg Eastwood. Interchange (from): Martin Taupau, Dale Finucane, Corey Payne, David Stagg, Harlan Alaalatoa

COWBOYS: Matthew Bowen, Kalifa Faifai Loa, Brent Tate, Kane Linnett, Antonio Winterstein, Johnathan Thurston, Michael Morgan, Matthew Scott, Aaron Payne, James Tamou, Gavin Cooper, Glenn Hall, Dallas Johnson. Interchange (from): Anthony Mitchell, Ricky Thorby, Ashton Sims, Scott Bolton, Ray Thompson

[Rage]

Darren Walton AAP Wed, Aug 01, 2012 - 5:21 PM

Even as the rampant Bulldogs top the NRL table and sniff out a 10th straight win, the F-word remains banned at Canterbury.

And don't mention "benchmark" either around Bulldogs coach Des Hasler.

Hasler's ability to play down his sides' title credentials became legendary as his Manly outfits flew "under the radar" all the way to premiership glory in 2008 and 2011.

Now the coaching master of psychology and gamesmanship has brainwashed his front-running Bulldogs, who refuse to publicly acknowledge their inevitable march to finals football.

Skipper Michael Ennis insists it's almost forbidden to talk finals six weeks out from the playoffs.

"It's certainly not about worrying about September, for me, just yet," he said ahead of Saturday's clash at Newcastle.

"I know how hard a challenge it is to go to Newcastle to win and at the moment that's my priority."

Ennis could have been Hasler in disguise as he dismissed hype around Canterbury's nine-game winning streak and tried to shift the focus to the Knights and how they're flying.

"To us, it's a real week-to-week proposition at the moment and every side's trying to fight their way into this finals series that's coming and we're no different," he said.

"You just don't look too far ahead. You see that far too often. When they start looking towards the finals, they start to lose focus on what's at hand and we're certainly not doing that.

"Newcastle have got a really good roster, they've got a great coach and playing them up there gives them that extra motivation.

"They'll certainly want to feature in the finals and they're going to be right up for this game and we need to be better than what we were on Saturday night."

Better even than when the Dogs put five tries on fourth-placed North Queensland in a match billed as a possible grand final rehearsal.

Hasler-style, Ennis also tried to hoodwink reporters into believing South Sydney, not the Bulldogs, were the team to beat in 2012.

"South Sydney are probably the form team in the comp at the moment," he said.

"So it's up to us to try and find that real consistency over the 80 minutes and try and keep winning to ensure that we stay in the top four."

Maintaining his players - not him - were keeping themselves grounded, Hasler said: "Peaking too early, that's a hypothetical".

"You've just got to take each week as it comes and each moment as it comes," he said after telling journalists "do not ask me a question about benchmarks".

But then this about Newcastle.

"It's always a great contest against a side that's five from six. So maybe they're the benchmark," Hasler said.

"It will be a really good contest between two sides that are showing a bit of form and they always play differently at Hunter Stadium.

"So it will be a good game."

Benchmark versus benchmark perhaps.