Canterbury hooker Michael Ennis has taken first points in his battle with Wests Tigers skipper Robbie Farah for the NSW State of Origin No.9 jersey with two tries in the Bulldogs' scrappy 24-4 NRL win at the Sydney Football Stadium.
Ennis was on the spot twice to collect kicks from Ben Roberts and Brett Kimmorley before providing a kick for his halfback's late try as the Dogs took the first steps in getting their season back on track.
The beleaguered Bulldogs went into Friday night's clash with just one win from their first five games and another loss would have had the word "crisis" being used about the club, which finished second on the ladder last year.
There was little fluency in the way they went about it, but the determined Dogs did enough to unsettle the high-flying Tigers, whose handling was woeful as they adapted to life with debutant halfback Blake Lazarus.
Tigers coach Tim Sheens will now be sweating on the return of No.7 Robert Lui, due back in two weeks, after talented stand-in Tim Moltzen's season was ended by an ankle injury last week.
The Dogs scored four tries to one, with fullback Luke Patten and Kimmorley adding to Ennis' double and Bryson Goodwin booting four from four in front of 19,491 fans.
The Tigers' sole points came from winger Lote Tuqiri, whose barnstorming 50m effort in the 59th minute had narrowed the margin from 12-0 to 12-4.
Leading 6-0 at the break after dominating the first half territorially, the Bulldogs extended their lead to 12-0 seven minutes after halftime when Patten capitalised after a strong run from winger Goodwin.
That scoreline remained until Ennis grabbed a Kimmorley kick in the 74th minute and the No.7 touched down in the 77th.
Ennis' first try in the 35th was controversial in a first 40 minutes in which the Tigers weren't getting the rub of the green, but video referee Paul Simpkins ruled Dogs centre Jamal Idris had not knocked Roberts' kick forward.