Club great Braith Anasta wonders whether the Bulldogs have “cost themselves a premiership” with their chopping and changing in key positions this season.
Canterbury were on top of the ladder from Round 4 through until Round 16, with Toby Sexton as their first choice halfback and Reed Mahoney as their first choice hooker.
But in Round 20, Lachlan Galvin replaced Sexton as starting halfback, and in Round 23, Bailey Hayward replaced Mahoney as starting hooker.
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Canterbury have suffered a horror form slump which has seen them lose four of their last five games, with their only win during that period coming against a Panthers side that were resting 16 players in Round 26.
Anasta believes the Bulldogs may have missed out on a golden opportunity to win the club’s first premiership since 2004, one which Anasta was a part of.
“While they’re planning for the long-term, have they taken their eyes off the short-term and possibly cost themselves a premiership?” Anasta, the host of NRL 360, asked the panel.
Anasta made reference to his team that won the competition in 2004.
It was a side that boasted superstars like Mark O’Meley, Willie Mason, Andrew Ryan, Roy Asotasi, Sonny Bill Williams and Johnathan Thurston.
But even for that star-studded team, Anasta says their premiership window was tiny.
“We only had one or two, even in the team we had, chances of winning a premiership,” Anasta added.
“The window for premierships are so small.
“The (2025 Bulldogs) were coming first. It’s amazing. It’s not a surprise to me that this story is so big.”
Co-host Gorden Tallis also made reference to the 13-week period this season where the Bulldogs were on top of the competition ladder.
“I’m just looking at where they were halfway through the year,” Tallis said.
“It wasn’t broke.”
For this Sunday’s elimination semi-final against the Panthers at Accor Stadium, the Bulldogs have named Sexton at halfback for the first time since Round 19, with Lachlan Galvin shifting to five-eighth, and Matt Burton into the centres to replace injured captain Stephen Crichton, although Crichton is in the extended squad and an outside chance of playing.
Mahoney has been recalled to the team and named on the bench after he was dropped altogether from their qualifying final against the Storm.
Reporter Paul Crawley said the open nature of the competition means the Bulldogs’ sole focus should be on the present, not the future.
“In this season in particular, we’ve all spoken about the fact that, it’s probably the closest competition that we can recall,” Crawley added.
“And there is no genuine standout team, and they’re one of the six that are still fighting for the premiership.
“So why worry about next year?
“Worry about now.”
Journalist Andrew Webster agreed with Crawley.
“Win it this year and next,” Webster said.
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Anasta felt if the Bulldogs hadn’t made those late season changes to their spine, they may have been well on track to end the club’s 21-year premiership drought.
“There’s a number of teams that are stumbling a little bit here,” Anasta said.
“So the floodgates are opening and if they’d just stuck to their guns, who knows how they’d be sitting right now?
“They could be one out, one back. Instead, they’re one of those teams.”
Webster said Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo needs to put his ego to one side in this situation.
“The best coaches in the history of the game have all had big egos, but they’ve all been able to put it to the side, for the betterment of the team,” Webster said.
“And if Cameron Ciraldo and Gus can do that, if this looks like it’s the best way forward this season, then they’ve got to stick with that.”
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