BY CURTIS WOODWARD

Sam Thaiday has put the boot into Canterbury Bulldogs prop David Klemmer ahead of Brisbane’s Thursday night showdown with the struggling Dogs.

Or was it a slap?

Thaiday was recently fined for deliberately attempting to further injure opponent Jesse Bromwich’s hand but nonetheless took aim at Klemmer who slapped Daly Cherry-Evans in their heavy loss against Manly.

“Hopefully I don’t get slapped in the face,” Thaiday quipped in front of media on Monday.

“But I will go down and play my style of footy which I have been playing since my first hit up in the NRL.

“That (aggression) might need to come out a little bit more against the Bulldogs because they are a tough physical pack.

“If we don’t match them we will get our pants pulled down.”

The under siege Bulldogs are desperate to score a try let alone win a game of football and now face the inform Broncos.

“The worst performance by a Canterbury team I’ve seen under Des Hasler” – Sterlo on the Bulldogs performance #TripleMNRL

— Dead Set Legends (@DeadSetLegends) March 27, 2017

.@DesHasler has all but confirmed his 2-year contract extension with the @NRL_Bulldogs ahead of @NZWarriors game. https://t.co/vOR8BTxFeI

— 7NEWS Sydney (@7NewsSydney) March 16, 2017

Thaiday said the thought of losing to the hapless Doggies after the week they’ve had is all the motivation Brisbane needs.

“We need to make sure we have our heads on against the Bulldogs otherwise it will be fairly embarrassing if we don’t.”

Whispers out of Belmore suggest coach Des Hasler is on borrowed time after a forgettable start to season 2017. It has also been suggested that Hasler doesn’t have the backing of a number of officials within the club.

Matty Johns came to the defence of Hasler on Triple M saying he didn’t have the players to win games of footy but wasn’t it Hasler who brought these guys on?

“They can’t get there and it has nothing to do with Des. The fact is they haven’t got enough creativity and they haven’t got enough skill in the team,” Johns said.

“If you sack Des Hasler and you put another coach in will the Bulldogs improve? My thoughts are no they won’t because they haven’t got the cattle in the creative positions.

“The problem’s got to do with the players they’ve got in key positions and until that is addressed they can sack as many coaches as they want.”

Canterbury’s only win thus far came against the consistently inconsistent New Zealand Warriors in round three at Dunedin.

@woodward_curtis