Richie Barnett: Doggies finally show some mongrel

DANGEROUSLY QUICK: Josh Morris, of the Bulldogs, has lifted his game several notches and is right back to his awesome best.

With a new coach and a different mentality, Warriors' opponents have built self-belief.

Sunday's match between the Warriors and the reborn Bulldogs should be a classic. It's a game between two sides in decent form and playing very similar styles.

Under Des Hasler the Bulldogs have rediscovered that old Dogs mentality. They're aggressive and intimidating in defence and their forwards are passing at the line, which asks some serious questions of opposition defences.

It's a style of play the Warriors have also used to good effect so far this season. The ball movement creates uncertainty and breaks up the line, which in turn leads to offloads and options for the playmakers.

Both sides look like they have plenty of points in them but they also look like conceding a few. Shoring up the defence, particularly on the edges, will be a major focus for the Warriors. It will be interesting to see if Brian McClennan sticks with Ben Henry at centre with Josh Morris coming to town. The Bulldogs have one of the most dangerous left edges in the comp and with Frank Pritchard back it gets even more deadly. Morris was diabolical at times last season, but this year he has lifted his game several notches and is right back to his awesome best. It's like someone has put a firecracker up his bum. Man, he is quick. I'd be worried if a regular centre was marking him. Henry is more comfortable in the back row and we've seen him struggle with Steve Matai's pace, so you'd think Bluey would be seriously considering putting Krisnan Inu on Morris.

The major danger from the Bulldogs comes from an outstanding forward rotation. Aiden Tolman, James Graham, Greg Eastwood and Sam Kasiano have been shredding teams up the middle. Kasiano is an incredible player. He's so big, you just can't stop him - one of the real X-factor talents in this Bulldogs side. If the Warriors can't control the ruck then they'll have their hands full with Ben Barba and Morris.

If you count the last four games of last season the Bulldogs have now won six in a row. They've got a new coach, a different mentality and are starting to believe in themselves.

The Dogs will also be fired up after Manu Vatuvei escaped suspension for a similar tackle to Frank Pritchard's. For me the decision not to punish Manu was a damn good one. The guy is six foot five (1.95m) and he's attempting to tackle a shorter player who is slipping. There was no real intent to hurt Willie Tonga. It was an accident.

I can also understand the Bulldogs' frustration that Pritchard was suspended. The bottom line is that Pritchard put in a much bigger hit. He knocked the guy out. If David Simmons had got up okay, chances are Pritchard might have got away with it.

I hate the use of slow-motion replay when it comes to these things. To me it distorts what really happens.

Pritchard's tackle looked a lot worse in slow-mo. It's the same when it comes to try-groundings - slow-mo doesn't necessarily give you a clearer picture of what happened, and often it's worse.

Head contact is always going to happen in a sport where really big men are trying to stop much smaller men. I'm all for protecting players, but sometimes you can go too far. If the game is serious about dealing with the issue then there should be a stand-down period for all players who are hit in the head. But we all know that is never going to happen.

For starters, the players often want to go back on straight away. Most will be worried that if they come off because they got knocked out they will be seen as soft. If the clubs were serious about it they'd stand down the players themselves.