Enari Tuala, Jethro Rinakama and Blake Wilson loom as the three leading candidates to replace injured Bulldogs winger Jacob Kiraz next week, with the three outside backs to fight it out for a potential finals starting spot in the NSW Cup on Saturday night.<\/p>\n
A suspected syndesmosis injury to Kiraz late in their 28-4 victory over the Panthers was the lowlight as the Bulldogs secured a spot in the top four for the first time since 2012.<\/p>\n
The powerhouse winger has been huge in yardage for them all year and has provided an attacking spark with his offloads coming out of trouble. <\/p>\n
Scans will determine the severity of his injury, but it didn\u2019t look good as he landed awkwardly contesting a short kick-off and had to be helped off Accor Stadium in immense pain.<\/p>\n
His injury has opened the door for one of three guys to come in, with skipper Stephen Crichton in no doubt for the finals despite appearing to be troubled by a \u201ctight hip\u201d on Thursday. <\/p>\n
\u201cHe\u2019s a bit swollen in there, so it doesn\u2019t look great,\u201d Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cHopefully, it\u2019s just a rolled ankle, but he\u2019ll get a scan (on Friday).<\/p>\n
\u201cEnari, Jethro and Blake Wilson are all really good candidates for us.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m really happy with the depth we\u2019ve built up over the past couple of years but in particular this year. We\u2019ve got guys fighting for NRL spots and those guys play on Saturday night.\u201d<\/p>\n
It would take a minor miracle for the Bulldogs to finish anywhere but third, which could open the door for Ciraldo to rest players given his side\u2019s last bye was way back in round 16.<\/p>\n
They face the Sharks next week but the plan for now is for everyone to play one last game to get ready for the finals where they\u2019re hoping to cause some damage. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe had 11 games straight leading into the finals and we\u2019d planned to play every game,\u201d Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n
\u201cIf we had to rest people, it would be in and around training and things like that.<\/p>\n
\u201cThat\u2019s the plan, but if there are some niggles, then we\u2019ll think about that (resting guys). We\u2019re looking forward to a really strong game next week to build our game for the finals.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhen we set out in pre-season with what we wanted to do, we wanted to go a few steps further than what we did last year, and top four was part of that.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo to tick that off is nice, and now we can prepare for a really good game against another quality opposition next week and hopefully build on what we did.\u201d<\/p>\n
As for the Panthers, the top four is officially out of reach, which means they face a brutal road ahead if they are to claim a fifth title in a row.<\/p>\n
Ivan Cleary rested 16 players from the team that lost to Canberra in golden point last week for the Bulldogs clash, and he wasn\u2019t giving much away when asked if his stars would return for the round 27 match against the Dragons. <\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ve got a plan,\u201d he said with a smile.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019ll just see how it goes.\u201d<\/p>\n