NRL: Dogs jump three spots up ladder with narrow win

Tony Williams of the Bulldogs is tackled during the round 23 NRL match between the Parramatta Eels and the Canterbury Bulldogs. Photo / Getty Images

Canterbury put their spluttering NRL campaign back on track with a hard-fought 18-16 win over bitter rivals Parramatta in Sydney last night.

With four successive defeats, the Bulldogs had toppled from top of the ladder to eighth spot and, despite some brilliance from the Eels' Jarryd Hayne, they ground out a much-needed victory in front of a crowd of 30,094 to move up to fifth.

Des Hasler's pre-match message to his Dogs was simply to keep hold of the ball and they followed it to the letter early when Greg Eastwood powered over from close range after a smart pass from Tim Lafai.

Against the run of play, the Eels hit back in the 21st minute when Hayne touched down under the posts.

Mitch Brown responded for the Bulldogs after another fine pass from Lafai, and prop Aiden Tolman rumbled over for a rare try after Chris Sandow had dropped the ball to hand possession to the Bulldogs on the 30-metre line.

Another moment of magic from Hayne set up the Eels' second try, scored by Semi Radradra on the stroke of halftime. A bullet of a pass from Corey Norman was instinctively flicked on by Hayne into the path of the big Fijian winger who made no mistake from close range.

Brad Arthur's side came racing out of the blocks after halftime with Radradra crossing for his second four minutes after the restart and Sandow adding the extras from the sideline.

But it proved to be the final time the scorers were troubled as defences from both sides dominated.

- AAP