SYDNEY - Competition leaders the Bulldogs are keeping low key about their winning streak in the NRL.
With 17 successive victories behind them, the Bulldogs headed for Auckland yesterday ahead of the feature match of the round against the Warriors tomorrow night.
The Sydney club are just two wins short of equalling
the record set in 1975 by the Sydney Roosters' predecessors, Eastern Suburbs.
Kiwis centre Nigel Vagana, 27, said extending the Bulldogs' winning sequence was not something team-mates or coach Steve Folkes had talked about in their preparations.
Vagana was more concerned about what happened on the Bulldogs' last visit to Ericsson Stadium a year ago, when they lost 34-8.
"The Warriors smashed us," he said. While the Bulldogs might not be focusing on a run that has given them a four-point lead at the top of the standings, Vagana said it was different among their opponents.
"Everyone wants to be the team to break the streak," he said.
He pointed to the Bulldogs' 34-26 win over lowly North Queensland in Townsville last Saturday.
The Cowboys led by 10 points midway through the second half before the Bulldogs clawed their way back.
Vagana is one of four New Zealanders in the Bulldogs squad, along with fellow test centre Willie Talau, rookie winger Matt Utai and interchange forward Paul Rauhihi.
Northern Eagles coach Peter Sharp and Kiwis counterpart Gary Freeman are among those tipping a home-town upset.
Sharp suggested the visitors' combination would be disrupted by the loss of standoff Braith Anasta, who is out with a broken thumb.
Freeman believed the Warriors' forward pack could prove decisive.
- NZPA
