Kimmorley turns it on to lift Bulldogs
Veteran Brett Kimmorley turned on a halfback masterclass to lift the Bulldogs to joint lead of the NRL table courtesy of a 28-4 win over the last-placed Sydney Roosters at ANZ Stadium on Monday night.
Kimmorley unleashed the full repertoire of tricks to run a listless Roosters side ragged, the crafty playmaker given an early mark by coach Kevin Moore after having a hand in four of the Bulldogs five tries along with a crucial 40-20 kick.
The win lifted the Bulldogs level with the Dragons on 36 competition points, though they remain second on the ladder with two rounds remaining with the red and whites enjoying a 68-point advantage in points differential.
Kimmorley's display shone like a beacon in a game which struggled to get going, the Roosters never really testing the home side even after Ben Jones crossed just before the break to make it 12-4 at halftime.
Luke Patten scored a double inside the opening 21 minutes, the veteran fullback feasting on the crumbs of a Kimmorley bomb before the No.7 dummied and sliced through on the halfway line to find 'The General' for a 12-0 lead.
The Bulldogs threatened but failed to go on with the job as they looked to put the visitors away, the Roosters making them pay with some quick hands seeing Jones cross out wide.
Kimmorley nabbed his 40-20 six minutes after the restart and, from the ensuing set of six, created some space for Daniel Holdsworth to put Josh Morris over.
He completed the job when he put Greg Eastwood into a gap for Hazem El Masri to score to go ahead of Dragons rival Jamie Soward at the top of the pointscorers list.
Moore paid Kimmorley the ultimate compliment when he compared him to former premiership-winning skipper Terry Lamb, before predicting there was more to come from the NSW Origin playmaker.
"Noddy was outstanding tonight. (His) running of the footy was great," Moore said.
"He reminds me a lot of a bloke like Terry Lamb, just in the way he conducts himself through the week and on game day.
"Baa was playing his best footy through to 34, 35 - Jason Smith's another bloke who was still playing great footy at 35, 36."
Kimmorley claimed a phone call from former coach and close friend Chris Anderson had helped spark his late season resurgence as he returned to a running game not seen in recent times.
"I had a good chat to Opes (Anderson) about two weeks ago and we sort of revised a few things we worked on about ten years ago ... it's added a bit more to our game and I made a few breaks today which is good," Kimmorley said.
Roosters coach Brad Fittler admitted the Bulldogs were at a different level compared to his struggling outfit.
"I think if we had have picked up the tempo they would have picked it up - I don't think we were in their class at all," Fittler lamented.
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