How Canterbury suffered killer blow before semi-final had even kicked off

2 hours ago 1

Another one bites the dust. And another gone, and another one gone, another one bites the dust.

First the Warriors and Roosters. Then Canberra. Now Canterbury after a 46-26 elimination at the hands of four-time champions Penrith at Accor Stadium on Sunday. That just leaves four.

The Bulldogs’ heavy defeat, which torpedoed their finals campaign in straight sets, came as no great surprise. There were already unmissable signs that they were on the endangered species list, having lost four of their previous five games.

The early competition leaders haven’t looked settled since the mid-season arrival of Lachlan Galvin from Wests Tigers, and the omission and subsequent recall of both Reed Mahoney and Toby Sexton only added to the uncertainty.

But the killer for Canterbury was the untimely ankle injury skipper Stephen Crichton sustained against Melbourne last weekend.

Stephen Crichton consoles Viliame Kikau.

Crichton is not only one of the most inspirational leaders in the competition and a proven big-game performer, he is arguably the best defensive centre.

His absence meant Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo had to manufacture a makeshift backline, switching Bronson Xerri to the right edge, where Crichton usually defends, and naming Matt Burton as left-side centre.

After a nervy start and a penalty to concede a 2-0 lead, Penrith spent the rest of the first half picking Canterbury’s edge defence apart. Six tries left the Bulldogs pondering a 36-8 scoreline – the biggest-ever half-time deficit in an NRL finals match.

It was a far cry from the defensive steel Canterbury had shown across the regular season, when they conceded fewer points (414) than any other team in the competition.

Matt Burton and the Bulldogs contemplate defeat against the Panthers.

Without their skipper to marshall the forces, Canterbury were no match for Panthers champion Nathan Cleary, who shuffled the pieces like a maestro to steer his team to within 80 minutes of a sixth straight grand final.

Wingers Brian To’o and Paul Alamoti feasted on the spoils of Cleary’s magic, scoring five tries between them.

Even though his team dug deep to outscore Penrith 18-10 in the second half, Ciraldo will feel they have fallen short. He’d have been hoping for a better outcome when the Bulldogs were flying high on top of the ladder after winning their first six games.

After exploding out of the blocks to win nine of their first 11 games, the Bulldogs struggled to post seven victories from their next 15 games.

That coincided with the mid-season signing of Galvin, who finished with six wins from his first 14 games as a Bulldog.

The 20-year-old playmaker scored his team’s opening try on Sunday, after an exchange of passes with Jacob Preston, and will presumably be a better player next year, after the experience he has gained this season.

The Bulldogs have also signed New Zealand international prop Leo Thompson from Newcastle, who will boost their forward rotation.

In Ciraldo’s debut year at Belmore, 2023, they finished a lowly 15th. Last year they improved to sixth, then third this season.

They have already come a long way relatively quickly, but the part of the journey that counts remains ahead of them.

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