Phil Gould has defended Cameron Ciraldo’s decision to overlook Bronson Xerri to replace injured skipper Stephen Crichton during the Bulldogs’ loss to the Rabbitohs in Roundb 5.

Crichton came off with a serious shoulder injury that will see him sidelined for a period of time, with Ciraldo choosing to put Sean O’Sullivan on at halfback and shift Matt Burton to the centres, despite having Xerri ready to go on the bench.

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Ciraldo was criticised amid the uncertain future around Xerri, after he was axed earlier in the season and requested a release at the time.

However, Gould revealed on Channel 9’s 100% Footy that Ciraldo was given an indication from the club doctor that Crichton would go back on and didn’t want to offend him.

“Crichton goes down,” Gould said on 100% Footy.

“The medical team goes on to assess the injury, it came back that Crichton would be back in five minutes.

“They thought he was coming back. Cameron has used three bodies – he has used (Lipoi) Hopoi, they had used (Sitili) Tupouniua and they had used (Kurt) Mann.

“Sean is there to cover halves and hooker. If he puts Bronson on, he can’t go and use Sean if one of those guys go down.

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Cameron Ciraldo and Bronson Xerri.Source: FOX SPORTS

“He was told Crichton would be back in five minutes. He didn’t want to offend the doctor. I said you’re not offending the doctor – he doesn’t have x-ray vision, it is in the heat of the battle, you can’t help that.

“The coach was feeling more for the doctor. He didn’t want the doctor to feel he was angry about it. You have about a minute to make these decisions.”

However, Xerri looks set to get his chance for a recall this Thursday against Penrith.

Gould confirmed Crichton will be sidelined with an ugly grade 5 AC joint injury, but in some good news he could be able to return once the swelling goes down and he can manage the pain.

“When you see grade five it is pretty ugly, it is not good at all,” Gould said.

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“I actually had a serious one myself 40-odd years ago, a serious one, and it is still sitting up. I can’t get it to go down.

“They are very, very painful injuries but they are the sort of thing that can heal quickly – it is a pain tolerance thing.

“Once he regains strength and gets some swelling out that, pain killers are very, very effective, In fact when he left the field the other night, when he went down injured, the fist thought was that maybe he had dislocated his shoulder.

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“When they got out there and realise dit was an AC joint, the message came back that we will get him off and needle him.

“It wasn’t until they got in the dressing room and started to see how limited he was that they realise dit was a lot more serious.

“His collar bone was sitting up on his shoulder.”

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