Canterbury's spluttering attack showed signs of life before a Jamayne Isaako hat-trick fired the Dolphins to a dominant NRL win in Brisbane.
The goal-kicking winger, headed to Melbourne next season, had three tries inside 45 minutes as the Dolphins prevailed 44-12 on Thursday at Suncorp Stadium.
Trailing 12-4, they scored 40 consecutive points to outdo last week's comeback effort against the Storm when they managed 28 straight points.
"Out start wasn't great, but what I liked was that we put a lot of pressure on ourselves, defended well ... gave ourselves a chance to stay in the game," Dolphins coach Kristian Woolf said.
'And I liked the confidence in the second half."
Powerful, durable winger Isaako has played every game since the Dolphins' NRL inception and is shaping as a handy pick-up for the Storm.
"Twenty-four points for Jamayne, equal most ever ... best game I've seen him play and outstanding the way he carried, outstanding with his opportunities and he took his chances," Woolf said.
It was the first time Isaiya Katoa, Kodi Nikorima and Jeremy Marshall-King had played together all season, owing to injuries and suspension.
"See the confidence and the way we move the ball; it makes a huge difference," Woolf said of the spine's chemistry.
Back-to-back victories shot the Dolphins (4-5) into the top 10 and just two wins outside the top three.
It was a sixth loss in seven games for the Bulldogs (3-6), last year's top-four side entering the round with the second-fewest points behind winless St George Illawarra.
Helped by a flurry of first-half penalties, the Bulldogs called the shots to build an early buffer.
Jaeman Salmon barged through to score under the posts and, after Isaako had kicked a restart out on the full, Stephen Crichton scored from a clever Connor Tracey pass into space.
Isaako scored himself in between those two Bulldogs efforts and then made a match-turning play in the 30th minute, beating his man to a loose Lachlan Galvin pass to set up Selwyn Cobbo for his first try.
Jacob Preston was sin-binned and placed on report for a late shot on Katoa and the Dolphins clicked through the gears, Isaako scoring either side of the break.
Fit-again pair Marshall-King and Jack Bostock both scored, before the calculated Nikorima was rewarded with a try of his own when set up by his halves partner.
It was party time when Cobbo got the ball in space and, shaping to kick, ran around Tracey for the Dolphins' eighth try.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo disagreed with the sin-binning of Preston and felt his side had been harshly treated by the officials when the Dolphins were on top.
But he said soft defence, particularly on the edges, remained their fatal flaw.
"We're hesitating, we're flinching and at our best we don't," the coach said.
Playmaker Matt Burton was a late scratching with illness, replaced by Sean O'Sullivan.
"He got thrown in at lunchtime. Not ideal, but he's an experienced player and some really good signs early, but a bit hard with 75 per cent possession in a 45-minute period against you," Ciraldo said.
