On the day news broke of his likely omission from the NSW State of Origin side, Canterbury's Josh Addo-Carr had an afternoon to forget as two poor defensive reads allowed St George Illawarra to claim a 34-24 NRL win.
Addo-Carr has been one of the mainstays of Brad Fittler's NSW side since 2018, but indications from the Blues camp earlier on Sunday suggested his new club's form after his switch from Melbourne to the Dogs this year was set to cost him his representative jersey.
Roosters winger Daniel Tupou appears Addo-Carr's likeliest replacement and while the Bulldogs flyer had a few jinking runs on Sunday and a try assist for Aaron Schoupp, he didn't offer much to suggest he could replicate the form shown in previous series.
In front of 16,991 fans at Belmore - the Bulldogs first home game at the ground since 2019 - Addo-Carr rushed up and left his defensive line exposed to allow Tatau Moga and Zac Lomax to score.
Addo-Carr was not alone in having a bad day, but his performances for the 16th-placed Bulldogs appear to have ruled him out of Fittler's thinking.
As has often been the case this year the Bulldogs were the architects of their own downfall.
After holding the ball well and with Matt Burton kicking a penalty goal, they appeared to have the upper hand.
But all that came undone when Addo-Carr rushed in on Lomax, who flicked on for an unmarked Tautau Moga to score in the corner in the 23rd minute.
Matt Dufty, who was playing against the Dragons for the first time since leaving the club, then dropped a high bomb which allowed Mat Feagai to go over unchallenged, and moments later Ben Hunt darted through a gap to push the Dragons further ahead.
Jake Averillo cut the Red V's advantage to make it 16-6 at half-time before the centre added a second straight after the break.
That try gave the Bulldogs hope they could claim their third win of the season, with Kyle Flanagan backing up a Dufty break to score, and after Burton kicked the conversion the home side led by two points.
That advantage lasted less than a minute, however, with Addo-Carr's miss on Lomax allowing the Dragons to go ahead before hooker Andrew McCullough extended their advantage.
Schoupp hit back for the Dogs but Dragons prop Blake Lawrie killed off Canterbury's hopes of a comeback when he crashed over late on for the first try of his NRL career in his 91st game.
