BLOG WITH JAMES HOOPER FROM 1PM BELOW
There’s no question the Bulldogs have got a major play-making balancing act once Matt Burton returns and Lachlan Galvin needs to fit into the blue and white starting side somewhere
Because make no mistake, Galvin makes Canterbury-Bankstown an infinitely more dangerous team when they’ve got the football.
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When the Doggies were going at a point a minute against South Sydney early on it wasn’t just what Galvin was doing with the ball that stood out.
It was the young gun’s work off-the-ball and his ability to make Canterbury-Bankstown have constant threats on both sides of the ruck that was glaringly obvious.
Halfback Toby Sexton also had a whale of a game in what’s going to be an extremely tough decision for coach Cameron Ciraldo come round 17 when the Bulldogs face Penrith after a bye.
The other interesting play was hooker Reed Mahoney coming off with five minutes to play only to go back on three minutes later when South Sydney scored a late try to Tyrone Munro to make a game of it at 24-18.
Bulldogs coach Ciraldo has shown he can and will handle this situation but at the same time it’s going to be one hell of a juggle trying to keep everyone happy and dialed in to the ride they’re currently on at Belmore.
Bulldogs hold off Bunnies’ late charge | 02:38
The reality is neither Mahoney or Sexton are likely to be part of Canterbury-Bankstown next season.
So keeping everyone on the same page while they charge towards September is going to be critical.
The Dolphins are the other club who deserve enormous praise after piling on 158 points in the club’s last three games.
Coach Kristian Wolf is well on his way to breaking the Wayne Bennett curse after a shaky start where the Dolphins lost their opening four games of the season.
To hear icons of the game like Mal Meninga and Cooper Cronk talk up young gun playmaker Isaiya Katoa the way they did on Super Saturday tells you this halfback is truly on a trajectory to somewhere incredibly good.
The ball-playing subtlety of this teenager is remarkable for a player his age.
And the best thing is whenever he’s interviewed all Katoa wants to talk about is improving his defence.
Whatever Wolf has implemented to get Kotoa and Kodi Noikorima playing the way they are is an example of very good coaching.
What were your likes or dislikes from round 15?
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