The Bulldogs forwards will be giving away roughly five kilos on average to their Broncos opponent when they clash in Brisbane on Thursday night.

Brisbane have lost two in a row and this year they’ve struggled when they’ve been put under pressure.

They also haven’t performed in wet, slippery conditions, and there’s the forecast of rain in Brisbane. Suncorp’s been extra slippery this year too with a lot of traffic on the surface.

This all suits the Bulldogs; the way they play and the way their team has been built.

They’ve got a pack of lightweight middle forwards who are all incredibly mobile with quick lateral movement, especially in defence.

In attack, they’re very similar and use their footwork and speed to get in behind the markers for a quick play-the-ball.

Then, once they get those quick play-the-balls, they stay in that area and hammer the defence until they break.

Toby Sexton has emerged as a genuine running threat at halfback as a result, as has fullback Connor Tracey. Both of them back up that dominance of the ruck.

Canterbury pulled South Sydney apart on Good Friday and did the same to Cronulla a few weeks earlier.

Out of their middle men, Max King, Josh Curran, Kurt Mann and Jaeman Salmon, King is the top weight at 105 kilos, while Mann and Salmon are significantly less. So they bring footwork, toughness and a very simple style by playing through the middle.

Curran’s opening try against the Rabbitohs was a classic example of ball runners being turned back under, like Penrith have done for years, to target a defender and keep the forwards moving.

Jai Arrow was dragged 20 metres to the left of his usual defensive spot, and two tackles later Curran was stepping inside him to score.

With........

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