Sonny Bill silent but deadly as Dogs maul Canberra

Canterbury 52 - Canberra 4
As much as the Bulldogs tried, there is simply no way of glossing over Sonny Bill Williams' match-winning performance in the 52-4 National Rugby League trouncing of Canberra.

Williams turned Telstra Stadium into his own stage and the young Raiders into mere spectators as the Kiwi star scored a hat-trick, set up another try and knocked Canberra halfback Michael Dobson into another world with a shuddering shoulder charge.

It was perhaps his best performance in first grade and certainly his highest scoring.

Williams crossed twice within four minutes to kick start the Bulldogs' scoring spree and followed it up with a massive shoulder charge on Dobson that catapulted the Canberra halfback into mid-air in a frenetic opening 20 minutes.

He completed his hat-trick in the 55th minute, carrying the ball one-handed as the Canberra defenders stood like spectators to let Williams canter over the line.

Bulldogs coach Steve Folkes called Williams to the bench in the 60th minute – ending an afternoon of 23 tackles, three linebreaks, three offloads, 10 hit ups and 145m gained.

Williams declined to talk to the media after his starring role and Folkes too wasn't getting swept away in the hysteria.

"It was pretty good I guess," said Folkes.

Pretty good?

"I guess maybe he did score a little bit, but he certainly wants to be seen as a member of the team and not an individual," he added.

"I'm not going to single him out, I thought everyone played well.

"He gets out there and everybody plays off him but you know a lot of things have to fall into place for Sonny to play that well. His team-mates need to be doing their job as well.

"It is certainly a team effort rather than an individual effort. He puts the icing on the cake with some great skill and athleticism I guess."

Canberra coach Neil Henry was more realistic in summing up Williams' performance.

"He was almost unstoppable. It was like men versus boys sometimes," said Henry.

The Raiders started strongly with Todd Carney scoring off his own charged down kick in the sixth minute, but the game quickly turned pear-shaped thanks to Williams.

Williams led a six-try first half from the Dogs, the game ending in a 10 tries to one victory and the second biggest loss in Canberra's history, behind the 54-3 belting from Parramatta in 1982.

Dogs centre Daryl Millard and winger Cameron Phelps both scored two tries, while Reni Maitua, Ben Roberts and Hazem El Masri also crossed the white line.

El Masri's try notched up his 2000th career point, just the fourth player in rugby league history to achieve the milestone.

But it was a dreadful day with the boot for the sharpshooter, landing just six from 10 attempts and failing from the same spot on the right touchline with three successive shots.

The win lifts the Bulldogs to fifth on the NRL table and gives their points differential a valuable boost in a congested race for the top four, while ending Canberra's chances of making the finals.

But Henry is clinging to a mathematical chance of reaching the finals if they win their last three games to finish on 26 points.

"There's some slim chance we could participate in the finals but we have to improve a fair bit to even deserve to be there," he said.

"On the back of that performance you would say we are next to no chance."

Meanwhile, Sydney Roosters centre Iosia Soliola will undergo surgery tomorrow morning after suffering a season-ending knee injury.

Soliola ruptured his patella tendon in the Roosters dramatic golden-point win over the Wests Tigers on Friday with the injury set to sideline the New Zealand rugby league international for six months.

As well as the 2007 NRL season, Soliola will also miss the October test against Australia and the New Zealand All Gold's tour of Great Britain.