The Bulldogs have been criticised for pushing Reed Mahoney out of the club without a ready-made replacement after the shunted hooker returned to haunt his old club in Round 9.
Mahoney was let go by the Bulldogs in favour of promoting Bailey Hayward to the starting hooker role, despite the fact he played most of his juniors in the halves.
Watch every game of every round of the Premiership Season LIVE with no ad-breaks during play on FOX LEAGUE, available on Kayo Sports | New to Kayo? Join now and get your first month for just $1.
The 28-year-old veteran has piloted the Cowboys to the top four and watched his former club drop out of the top eight since he left.
And Mahoney had two try assists and a game high 52 tackles in the Cowboys’ 28-12 win over the Bulldogs, while Hayward had zero run metres and no try or linebreak involvements.
Mahoney couldn’t resist a few cheeky digs at his former club post game on the field and on social media.
“Reed Mahoney took a dig at his former teammates, how good was this from Reed?” Braith Anasta said on NRL 360.
“Shown the door, kicked out last year, told that he wasn’t needed, and then he came back and was close to man-of-the-match against them on the weekend and didn’t he let them know.
“He’s reposted the Bulldogs Instagram post of the final score and did we expect anything else from Reed?”
MORE NRL NEWS
CRAWLS: Munster mystery sparks Origin dilemma; Gus’ fingerprints on Dogs debacle
TALKING POINTS: ‘Crazy’ move that sums up Dogs’ biggest issue; why 19yo is ‘future’
TEAM TIPS: FOUR Broncos gone in fresh crisis; worrying Roosters sight, Bunnies blow
The Daily Telegraph’s Dean Ritchie feels the Bulldogs are missing the very ingredients that Mahoney brought to their side last season when they were leading the competition.
“The one thing I think that Canterbury have missed through Reed Mahoney’s exit is their energy and their cheekiness,” Ritchie said.
“I think they’ve really missed that this year. They need a bit of spark, a bit of spunk and Reed had that last year and the Bulldogs right now, they just look a bit pedestrian, they look a bit flat and that was the bloke that gave him that spark last year.”
Get all the latest NRL news, highlights and analysis delivered straight to your inbox with Fox Sports Sportmail. Sign up now!!!
Bulldogs failing to fire under O’Brien | 01:20
The Daily Telegraph’s Brent Read noted that Mahoney is a far better dummyhalf than Hayward at this stage of their careers, which sparked a debate with Anasta.
“He would have loved that game of course he would have,” Read said.
“And I think Bailey Hayward’s learning on the run and at the moment Reed Mahoney’s a better hooker than Bailey Hayward.
“At some point, maybe Bailey goes past him, but there’s no doubt right now he is not at that level.”
“At what point would that be?” Anasta interjected.
“I’m not saying in the next two or three weeks, I’m saying maybe at some point he goes past him,” Read continued.
“I don’t think there’s any doubt Canterbury would be a better side with Mahoney in it.
“I’m not ruling it out though, I think Bailey Hayward is a good footballer.”
Preston move raises more concerns | 02:01
“I’m not ruling it out either, but do you see it happening in the next decade or the next few weeks?” Anasta replied.
“Look, I don’t think it’s going to happen this year, but potentially in the next year or two he goes past him,” Read said.
“But there’s no doubt right now, if you were to say, would Canterbury be a better side with Reed Mahoney at hooker. Yeah, there probably are. And I think that showed on Thursday night.”
However, Ritchie has no doubt the Bulldogs made the wrong call in letting Mahoney go and was backed up by Gorden Tallis.
“The decision to let Reed go in hindsight’s a clanger, isn’t it?” Ritchie said.
“I don’t think there’s any debate there that they got it wrong.”
Tallis added: “Absolutely, I reckon if I’m a mad Bulldogs fan, I like my side last year at this time.”
Discussion about this post