The 2014 Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs season was the 80th in the club's history. Coached by Des Hasler and co-captained by Michael Ennis and Frank Pritchard, they competed in the National Rugby League's 2014 Telstra Premiership. Finishing the regular season 7th (out of 16), the team reached the finals for the third consecutive year. They then went on to reach the 2014 NRL Grand final, in which they were defeated by the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Pre-season In the pre-season theBulldogs competed in the 2014 NRL Auckland Nines, the first ever staging of the nine-a-side knockout tournament. Regular season The Bulldogs started the regular season with a narrow loss to the Brisbane Broncos before accounting for the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the second week of the competition. They would then go on to get beaten by the Penrith Panthers after the siren in round 3. Following this loss the Bulldogs went on a season high 7 game winning streak, during which they made history by becoming the only team to ever win 3 consecutive games by a single point, victories they earned over the Sydney Roosters, the New Zealand Warriors and the South Sydney Rabbitohs. Due to the impressive form of the team, several players were called up to play State Of Origin for New South Wales, which triggered a mid-season slump, during which the Bulldogs did not register a win for over a month. The team managed to regain some form towards the end of the origin period, claiming victories over the Canberra Raiders in round 16 and heavy favourites Manly-Warringah Sea Eagles in round 17. The Bulldogs played arguably their best defensive game of the year in round 18, when they kept the Melbourne Storm to just 4 points and ran out winners by 2. What followed was an unpredictable collapse over the following four matches. Injuries and suspensions played havoc during the end of the regular season and after having such good defence all year, the bulldogs let in 123 points in just four games against the Wests Tigers, the North Queensland Cowboys, the Penrith Panthers and the Brisbane Broncos, only managing 56 in return. The Bulldogs next win came in round 23 when they accounted for the Parramatta Eels by 2 points. In round 24 the Bulldogs were able to reverse the result against the Tigers, winning 30-10 and all but assuring themselves a place in the finals. The final