The Bulldogs’ statement win over the Sea Eagles has not only thrust them back into premiership contention, but it’s convinced critics that it was the right call to make a key change in the halves.
Veteran journalist Phil Rothfield was one of the many voices in the rugby league world that questioned and even criticised coach Cameron Ciraldo’s decision to drop Toby Sexton for mid-season signing Lachlan Galvin.
But after an impressive fortnight in the No.7 jersey, Rothfield admitted on NRL 360 that the controversial decision to bring Galvin in at the expense of Sexton was right.
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“The big thing with Galvin is that he’s not overplaying his hand. He hasn’t come in there trying to be a hero, he’s slotted in nicely and as Cameron Ciraldo has told us, he’s shown at training that he was ready to come into the football side,” Rothfield said.
“Cameron Ciraldo again has been proven right. Sexton’s gone back to NSW Cup, he’s going well, but Galvin has given this side — as Cameron suspected he would — another edge.”
Galvin started at halfback for the Dogs for the first time in Round 20 and won them the game with a magic pass in the final three minutes to set up Jethro Rinakama for a try.
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He back that up with a busy performance against Manly that fellow News Corp journalist Brent Read believes helped unlock star five-eighth Matt Burton, who had one of his best games.
“Matt Burton looked like he was freed up. He ran the ball a lot more. I think what they changed unleashed him, unshackled him,” Read said on NRL 360.
“They’re a different side when they’ve got Galvin attacking one side and Burton creating havoc as well. They’re a potent team.”
Following the 42-4 win, Ciraldo revealed in his post-game press conference that he had made changes to the team’s attack just two days earlier.
Captain Stephen Crichton added that the change had something to do with “making it more simple for our spine” and it seemed to work wonders for the halves.
NRL 360 pulled up Burton and Galvin’s stats from the Bulldogs’ Round 20 win over the Dragons and Round 21 win over Manly.
The pairing took seven more runs and had more than double the run metres against Manly, three linebreaks in Round 21 vs none in Round 20 and 14 tackle busts vs 1.
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Braith Anasta, who won a premiership with the Bulldogs in 2004, said what stood out to him is the “simplicity” in their game plan.
“They just thought run first, get quick play the balls, offloads and also give service to outside men,” he said.
“What they probably haven’t done enough in recent weeks is get the ball to Crichton and Xerri — and quality ball. That’s what they did and they also took pressure off those outside blokes because they ran the footy so much.
“Galvin’s Achilles heels has been overplaying his hand and passing when the pass isn’t on… but yesterday if it wasn’t on he didn’t pass it and when he did it was first class.
“You talk about evolution and why they made this decision and we’re seeing the fruits now.”
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The Bulldogs sit inside the top four but haven’t looked their best in the three weeks prior to Sunday’s win.
A loss to the Broncos and only just scraping past the Cowboys and Dragons had caused some to question their premiership credentials. But after thrashing Manly, Rothfield now believes the Dogs should be in the premiership conversation.
“I didn’t have them in quite the top tier this year but (the win) has put them into the top tier with the likes of Canberra and Melbourne and Penrith maybe — that’s how impressive they were,” he said.
“They absolutely slaughtered Manly in that second half.”
With Rothfield now on board with the Galvin change, Anasta asked if he believes the young playmaker should stay in the team, to which he said “I do.”
Anasta also brought up a whisper he heard that Rothfield had actually met Ciraldo for coffee — which was confirmed by Rothfield.
“Cameron Ciraldo is a good bloke, we had a laugh about my Sexton coverage and how there might’ve been a little bit of a backflip,” he said.
“You’ve got to change your opinions on what you actually see each weekend. We’re paid to have an opinion so I came on here and said it might disrupt the team.
“The week that Burton went to centre, the week that Mahoney came off and Sexton went to hooker, that disrupted the team — but Cameron fixed it.”
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