Canterbury coach Trent Barrett has lamented his side's maturity following Friday's 34-14 loss to Brisbane at Suncorp Stadium.
The Bulldogs remained within reaching distance of the Broncos after giving up an early second-half lead to trail by eight points with 10 minutes remaining on the clock.
Bulldogs fullback Matt Dufty endured an inconsistent night against the Queensland club, scoring a try and running for over 170 metres before fading out late in crucial moments of the game.
A particular incident that left Barrett angered by his No.1 came within the final moments of the match, where Dufty opted to wrestle with Broncos five-eighth Tyson Gamble as his side were looking to move the ball forward and shorten Brisbane's margin.
Without Dufty's presence in attack, the Bulldogs lost possessions following a knock-on, with Barrett expressing his disappointment in his fullback post-game.
“It comes back to game management… our sense of what we need and when, you know who has got the ball, who is in front, what time is on the clock, where are we and what do we need,” he said.
“That was silly, because we did have the ball in really good field position and he is a really big part of what we do with the ball.
“There is a number of little things like that that are culminating in why the score ended up like it did in the back-end.”
The Bulldogs wouldn't get another look at potentially snatching victory for the rest of the match, with the Broncos piling on two late tries from Selwyn Cobbo and Rhys Kennedy to see out the must-win clash.
The defeat sees Canterbury slump to a 1-6 record and anchor themselves to 16th on the ladder, now four points away from Brisbane in 10th.
The performance compounds a frustrating campaign for Barrett and the Dogs, who are struggling to gel across the park.
“Yeah it is, and not just through our spine either,” Barrett said in regards to his side faltering due to a lack of maturity.
“Like it is across the board, it is certainly not from lack of trying, we have blokes trying, sometimes trying too hard, but putting the effort in in the wrong areas.”
The Bulldogs will be looking to salvage their season in the coming weeks when they play the Roosters, Raiders and then Knights in Magic Round.