Bulldogs roll the dice with shock bench switch
Melissa Woods |
Cameron Ciraldo is bringing Sexy back, saying livewire halfback Toby Sexton has earnt a shock recall for Canterbury’s NRL qualifying final against Melbourne.
After two months playing in the NSW Cup, Sexton has been included on the Bulldogs bench in Friday’s clash with the Storm, taking the place of Reed Mahoney.
Sexton made his teammate superfluous after adding hooker to his repertoire during his stint in the lower grade, where he was sent back in July to make way for wunderkind Lachie Galvin.
As well as dummy half Ciraldo said Sexton, nicknamed Sexy, would cover the halves if five-eighth Matt Burton was forced to shift wider due to injuries.
“He was a guy that lost his position at one stage as well and what he’s done is go away and work really hard on his game,” Ciraldo said of 24-year-old Sexton.
“He never dropped his lip, always put the team first and he’s gone away and also worked at playing hooker as well.
“As sad as it is for Reed we’re actually really excited around Toby and his inclusion in the team.
“Toby’s always brought great energy, he’s 100 miles per hour and he’s a great communicator.”
Ciraldo denied Mahoney’s communication skills contributed to his omission, although did laud the effectiveness of his starting hooker Bailey Hayward.
“I don’t know where that’s come from,” he said of Mahoney.
“What I understand is we all really value Bailey’s communication and the players have said that he’s probably the best communicator in our team and he makes such a difference when he’s there.”
Mahoney has been a popular figure with the Belmore faithful since joining from Parramatta three years ago, and Ciraldo said it was a “hard” conversation with the 27-year-old who was their starting hooker until round 19 when he was shunted for Hayward.
“It’s definitely a tough decision but one that we think is best for the team to help us win this weekend,” Ciraldo said.
“At the forefront of our mind is how hard that would be for Reed and it’s really important that we reinforce how much we love him and we’re here to support him, but there are tough decisions you’ve got to make at different times in this job and it’s what we think is best for the team.”
Star winger Jacob Kiraz travelled to Melbourne as he looks to return from an ankle injury.
Ciraldo said Kiraz would train on Thursday and they would make the final call on game day, but he had so far “ticked every box”, with his inclusion a big boost given they are already missing speedsters Bronson Xerri and Marcelo Montoya.
Hunting their first finals win since 2015 and a preliminary final at home in two weeks time, the Bulldogs came within millimetres of snagging at least a draw when they met the Storm at AAMI Park in round 25.
“We learnt a lot, particularly around the first half about what we could have done better, but we also got a lot of confidence out of that day as well,” Ciraldo said.
They are coming into the finals off the back of a disappointing last-round loss to Cronulla, but with third spot locked in the coach wasn’t concerned.
“It’s a new competition, it’s a different style of game and we’re really excited about that,” Ciraldo said.
AAP
