Why Bulldogs shook up their playmakers – again – three days before the finals

3 days ago 4

A listless 76 minutes in attack with Bailey Hayward forced to play out of position was the catalyst for what will be Canterbury’s 11th different playmaking combination this season and Toby Sexton’s first NRL game in two months.

Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has explained the latest in a series of selection calls around his spine and bench utility role, which see one-time captain Reed Mahoney dropped on the eve of his last finals campaign for the club.

Sexton is promoted to Canterbury’s bench in Mahoney’s place for Friday’s qualifying final clash against Melbourne.

A final call on winger Jacob Kiraz, who is pushing to make an early return from an ankle injury, will be made on game day.

No playmaking set-up has come under as much scrutiny as Canterbury’s this season, following the mid-season signing of Lachlan Galvin and Mahoney’s fall from starting hooker to 18th man.

Injuries to Connor Tracey and Matt Burton, as well as Sexton’s axing to make way for Galvin against the Dragons in round 20, have contributed to 10 different Bulldogs spine and bench playmaking combinations so far in 2025.

Speaking on Thursday, Ciraldo said the latest shift was largely borne out of Hayward’s move from hooker to the halves when centre Bronson Xerri was knocked out of last weekend’s loss to Cronulla after four minutes.

Canterbury have struggled for points for the past month.

But their attack was especially disjointed against the Sharks – a 90-metre intercept try was their only source of points – with Ciraldo highlighting Hayward’s communication at dummy-half as the missing ingredient.

“Last week Bailey had to move out to the halves, and we felt like we lost his communication and his connection through the middle,” Ciraldo said.

Toby Sexton (foreground) is in, Reed Mahoney (background) is out.

“We all really value Bailey’s communication and the players have said that he’s probably the best communicator in our team.

“It’s something we’ve been thinking about for a while and Toby’s gone back and worked really hard on his game and really put the pressure on through his performances in NSW Cup.

“It’s definitely a tough decision … and there’s a lot of moving parts in that. 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…

“We’ve had a number of [similar] conversations over the last few months, and he understands it’s what’s best for the team.”

Immortal Andrew Johns pointed to Canterbury’s lack of a running threat and creativity out of dummy half in this masthead on Thursday as a necessary fix to their stagnating attack.

Mahoney, who signed in 2021 as one of the first marquee recruits in Phil Gould’s rebuild, has potentially played his last game for the Bulldogs given he has been released early to join North Queensland.

Sexton, too, will leave Belmore to join Catalans next season after the club declined to offer him an extension. After leading Canterbury to the top of the table in the first half of the season, Sexton’s demotion in early July has come under increased scrutiny given the Bulldogs’ 4-5 record and offensive struggles since.

Ciraldo remains bullish about his side’s form after a run of late-season games against the premiership heavyweights and lauded Sexton’s perseverance after his highly publicised axing.

“[Sexton] was a guy that lost his position at one stage as well,” Ciraldo said.

“But [he] never dropped his lip, he’s always put the team first… Toby’s always brought great energy. He’s 100 miles per hour and a great communicator.

“What he will do is cover the halves and allow Burto to cover the outside backs, and he covers hooker as well.”

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