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Only a mass resting from Ivan Cleary\u2019s Panthers a fortnight ago has prevented a total wipeout for the Bulldogs, who even then hardly impressed against an inexperienced Penrith outfit.<\/p>\n
Already without Jacob Kiraz for the foreseeable future after his last start ankle injury, the Bulldogs will have to make do without Xerri, and most probably Montoya, for their qualifying final in Melbourne next week.<\/p>\n
Xerri caught the hip of Shark Sione Katoa within the first five minutes and was instantly ruled out with a Category 1 concussion.<\/p>\n
To make matters worse, Montoya would limp off in the dying stages with an ankle injury.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s not looking good. He\u2019s in a fair bit of pain,\u201d coach Cameron Ciraldo responded when asked for an update on Montoya.<\/p>\n
Ciraldo continued that it \u201cwould be a bit of a stretch\u201d to have Kiraz return next week.<\/p>\n
Montoya\u2019s injury came about from a suspect tackle from Nicho Hynes, with the Sharks half put on report for a hip drop.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe concern he has is that it\u2019s dangerous… It\u2019s an accident but the injury does come into play,\u201d Braith Anasta said on Fox League.<\/p>\n
Craig Fitzgibbon sets sights on finals | 03:38<\/p>\n
It could have been made a lot worse for the Bulldogs, with Viliame Kikau overcoming a concussion scare of his own after an awkward collision with Toby Rudolf.<\/p>\n
Playmaker Matt Burton \u2013 who pulled up lame with an apparent shoulder concern \u2013 and back-rower Jacob Preston filled in at centre in Xerri\u2019s absence throughout proceedings, though it\u2019s more likely that both Blake Wilson and Jethro Rinakama will come into the frame to face the Storm.<\/p>\n
For a game of little consequence with week one of the finals already locked away, the Sharks would make the most of a frantic first half to race away to an 18-0 lead by half-time.<\/p>\n
Enari Tuala\u2019s 100-metre try-scoring effort six minutes into the second half offered the 30,000-strong home crowd a glimmer of hope, but it would all be to no avail with Blayke Brayley\u2019s 58th minute try proving the final straw.<\/p>\n
INJURIES<\/p>\n
Bronson Xerri – head knock<\/p>\n
Marcelo Montoya – head knock<\/p>\n
ON REPORT<\/p>\n
Nicho Hynes – hip drop<\/p>\n
Sitili Tupouniua – late contact<\/p>\n
RELIVE THE ACTION IN OUR LIVE BLOG BELOW. CAN\u2019T SEE IT? CLICK HERE<\/a>. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"The Bulldogs\u2019 horror run into the finals has been compounded by game-ending injuries to outside backs Marcelo Montoya…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":123765,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[4614,1813,87000,64,63,689,4530,4409,5095,86998,7618,30195,7622,4565,4430,4437,4603,763,2105,5098,4592,4587,4577,4470,4617,5093,3502,761,762,673,158,677,4598,4432,85,4546,670,28059,86997,4413,4456,86999,87001],"class_list":["post-123764","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-addin-fonua-blake","tag-ankle-injury","tag-ankle-problem","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-australia-and-new-zealand","tag-bailey-hayward","tag-blake-wilson","tag-blockbuster-clash","tag-blunder-gifts","tag-cameron-ciraldo","tag-cameron-spencer","tag-canterbury-bulldogs","tag-cronulla-sharks","tag-daly-cherry-evans","tag-daniel-atkinson","tag-final-game","tag-fox-league","tag-getty-images-inc","tag-ivan-cleary","tag-jacob-preston","tag-jesse-colquhoun","tag-josh-curran","tag-kurt-mann","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-match-centre","tag-max-king","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-new-south-wales","tag-nrl","tag-oceania","tag-penrith-panthers","tag-samuel-hughes","tag-sports","tag-stephen-crichton","tag-sydney","tag-thomas-hazelton","tag-thumb-injury","tag-toby-rudolf","tag-william-kennedy","tag-winger-jacob-kiraz","tag-work-ethic-stuff"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123764","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=123764"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/123764\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/123765"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=123764"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=123764"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=123764"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}