Playing with plenty of frills and little substance, the Bulldogs found out what it was like to live on the edge against one of the better teams in the league.

They were one point down in the dying minutes until brave fly-half Luke Mears slotted home a penalty goal from 50 metres out.

"It hit the upright and bounced over," Bulldogs coach Troy Hunt recalled.

"You rarely see the 50-metre goal in local rugby.

"On our clocks there was four minutes to go and I was thinking the game was over."

The scoring was far from dried up.

The visitors scored an unconverted try from the kick-off to go up 19-14.

Hunt believed his side's unbeaten run had come to an end in the fourth round.

Bulldogs loose head prop Ikiafe Tu crossed the line for his side's second try of the day to level the scores on the final whistle.

Mears had the chance to give the Bulldogs a famous victory with a conversion attempt 20metres out and 15metres in from the sideline.

The brilliant No.10 made no mistake.

"The whole team ran in and jumped on him after he scored the conversion," Hunt said.

"It was never in doubt. It didn't deviate, it went straight through the middle."

Hunt is still not sold on his side's willingness to follow instructions and do the team things.

He has too many mavericks in his side. "Some players don't want to play as a team," he lamented.

The keys to the win for the Bulldogs were centres Risona Numia and Hills Tumaalii.

They were crucial when left wing Meli Ratu went down with what could be a season-ending broken hand.

"He didn't realise he had broken it until he had it checked out at the hospital," Hunt said.

"It's a big loss for the club with his experience because he's a calm head, a player for the young guys to look up to."

The Bulldogs other try-scorer, Francis Amituanai, was outstanding off the bench.

Despite the team extending its lead at the top of the ladder, Hunt, who also coaches the seconds, says some of the first graders can take a leaf out of the books of the reserve graders. "The seconds are playing as a team. They've been the benchmark."

The Bulldogs visit Monash University in the fifth round on Saturday.