Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has explained the decision to drop Lachlan Galvin from his bench for his side’s 12-8 win over the Cowboys.
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The Bulldogs made the call to drop Galvin and explained it was a tactical decision based on Jaeman Salmon returning at lock, with Bailey Hayward switching to the bench and Kurtis Morrin joining the pine.
However, after the win snapped a two game slide, it remains to be seen how Galvin gets back in the 17, with Kurt Mann to return to the bench after being rested following Origin III.
Ciraldo explained his reasons for leaving Galvin out of the team.
“Yeah it was a hard one because it would have been nice to have Lachie on there when Burto came off and I reckon if he was on there, to bring him on with fresh legs at the back end of the game I thought he could have really asked some more questions of the Cowboys defence,” he said.
“But I thought we needed four forwards on the bench. Max King backing up from Origin, Jaeman Salmon’s first game back.
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“We looked at the Cowboys vs Storm game last week and a lot of guys were cramping up in that last 20 minutes, so I thought it was really important to carry an extra forward tonight.
“When Burton went off I was thinking maybe that wasn’t the right decision, but it was the right decision because our forwards all worked their arses off and it was tough out there. It was hot and humid.”
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Ciraldo was pressed on how Galvin fits into the team for the rest of the season.
“I am not too sure about that, but tonight we are just going to celebrate a really hard-fought win,” Ciraldo said.
“The Cowboys were really desperate tonight and they did a lot of things well, so we were just stoked to get away with the win.
“We have Crichton, Mann and Tupouniu back next week, so we are starting to get our team back together and we are passed this Origin period and we can get into the last third of the season.”
