Canterbury coach Kevin Moore has warned his side's time is fast running out to get their NRL premiership campaign back on track, admitting the time for excuses is over, heading into Sunday's meeting with Melbourne.

Considered by many in the pre-season a top-four certainty, the Bulldogs have struggled to rediscover the form, which saw them get within one game of the grand final last year, the blue and whites with just three wins to their name from ten games in 2010.

Only points differential and the fact Melbourne have been barred from earning any competition points are keeping the Dogs off the bottom of the ladder, Moore adamant the time of 'must-win' games had arrived.

"The longer we go without a win, the harder the road becomes so we need to address it and we need to start with that this week," Moore said.

"There comes a point in time where you just can't have excuses, you've just got to make it happen and that point's come for us this week.

"Their pride's been dented, we're pretty disappointed with where we're at at the moment, so we need to fight back and show some real hunger this weekend."

The Bulldogs' cause has been helped with Queensland Origin star Greg Inglis (hamstring) and NSW prop Brett White (foot) joining injured skipper Cameron Smith on the sidelines.

Maroons' fullback Billy Slater (back) failed to train with the side following Wednesday's Origin game but is expected to play, while former St George-Illawarra centre Chase Stanley will make his Storm debut in place of Inglis.

The trip south will be an emotional one for Bulldogs' winger Steve Turner, who will come face to face with many of the teammates with whom he won two grand finals with at the Storm, only for those premierships to be stricken from the record books, as a result of the club's repeated salary breaches.

"It's obviously been tough times for the Melbourne club - it would be much harder being a player down there," Turner said this week.

"I obviously was disappointed at the time when it came out but it hasn't distracted me at all, I've obviously got a job to do here.

"(The memories) are still there and I'm sure the 16 other guys that took the field with me in the '07 and '09 grand finals feel the same as I do."

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