7 hours ago
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“This sh--t’s chess, it ain’t checkers.”
The stakes are high. Sacrifices are to be made - if you’re game. It ain’t Denzel Washington in his famous Training Day rant, but it’s two of the NRL’s more adventurous tacticians.
Manly coach Anthony Seibold and Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo have both made season-defining with the finals looming.Credit: Graphic: Marija Ercegovac
Cameron Ciraldo and Anthony Seibold have tried more tactics than most NRL coaches in the past few years, and with a two-month finals run kicking off in earnest, they’ve both made season-defining calls with their most important players and positions.
Seibold - who has tried rugby-esque kicking duels and emphasised high-risk, high-reward ball movement at Manly - has shifted the once out-of-sorts Tom Trbojevic out of his favoured fullback role. The Sea Eagles campaign, and potentially the coach’s own skin, will ride on this call during the next month.
Ciraldo has turned Canterbury upside down with a high-octane, small-bodied game plan and utilities coming out of the walls. And now, the most scrutinised call of 2025 in the latest edition of its single biggest storyline - Lachlan Galvin in at No.7, Toby Sexton out.
With both decisions, the context of how and why they were made is critical. The potential upside and pitfalls, even more so.
Read the full story here.
