Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs have closed out the 2026 NSWRL Regional Magic Round with a dominant win, defeating Manly Warringah Sea Eagles 64-10 in Round 17 of The Knock-On Effect NSW Cup at Scully Park in Tamworth.
The Bulldogs found themselves deep in attacking territory in the early minutes and took advantage right away. After shifting to the right with fullback Taye Cochrane poking his nose through, Canterbury-Bankstown went back to the other sideline on the following tackle as Sean O’Sullivan flung a long ball to winger Jonathan Sua who scored untouched on the left-hand side.
For about 10 minutes after the opener the Sea Eagles’ defensive line did well to resist the opposition attack, but the Bulldogs came up with a well-worked play to break through once more when skipper and Tamworth local Logan Spinks ran a hard line before flicking an offload inside for halfback Alex Conti to score. O’Sullivan converted to lead 10-0.
The Dogs appeared to find their rhythm at that point, crossing the try-line again almost immediately with O’Sullivan dummying, finding open space and sending second-rower Jed Reardon over to score. O’Sullivan landed another two points for a 16-0 lead.
After threatening early it was hometown hero Spinks who found his way onto the scoresheet next, running an out line off a pinpoint O’Sullivan short ball before improving his position for four points. It gave the five-eighth an easy conversion to lead 22-0.
With O’Sullivan taking control, the Dogs found success for a fifth time - the No.18 engaging the line on the right then passing back inside for Cochrane to race under the posts for a try. They weren’t done yet with just under two minutes until half-time when Conti stepped off his right and linked up with Patrick Young, who handed the ball back to the halfback to score his second. O’Sullivan landed both conversions as the Bulldogs took a 34-0 lead into half-time.
It was more of the same Bulldogs dominance in the second half with both Sua and Conti completing hat-tricks and centre Sosaia Alatini crossing the stripe with a quarter of the match still remaining.
Manly hit back with two consolation tries for Beau Newlands and Onitoni Large, but it was Bulldogs forward Jack Todd, the other half of their Tamworth duo, who had the last say with a four-pointer of his own in front of a home crowd at Scully Park. Fellow local Spinks nailed the last conversion to round off a huge 64-10 win.
Talking Points
Late inclusion Sean O’Sullivan played a dominant role for the Bulldogs, having a hand in nearly all off his side’s 11 tries, and landing nine conversions from 10 attempts.
It was only fitting in the final game of the 2026 NSWRL Regional Magic Round, to see Tamworth products Logan Spinks and Jack Todd cross for the Bulldogs on their return to home turf.
The win was crucial for the Bulldogs to stay within two wins of the top five with just nine rounds remaining in the regular season.
Key Moment
It was Alex Conti’s try in the 11th minute that saw the Bulldogs click into gear, extending their buffer to two tries after almost 10 minutes of resistance by the Sea Eagles. Jed Reardon crossed for a try soon after that and the Bulldogs’ point-scoring only improved from that moment on.
What’s Next?
The Bulldogs have a well-earned bye in Round 18 while the Sea Eagles head to Kellyville on Sunday night to take on the Parramatta Eels.
