{"id":636899,"date":"2026-04-28T20:12:19","date_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:12:19","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636899\/"},"modified":"2026-04-28T20:12:19","modified_gmt":"2026-04-28T20:12:19","slug":"how-speed-killed-the-bulldogs-and-the-storm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/636899\/","title":{"rendered":"How speed killed the Bulldogs and the Storm"},"content":{"rendered":"

Opinion<\/p>\n

\"NeilNeil Breen<\/a>National sports editor<\/p>\n

April 29, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

April 29, 2026 \u2014 5:00am<\/p>\n

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AAA<\/p>\n

It\u2019s incredible how fast it has happened.<\/p>\n

Expanding the use of set-restarts, which can now be awarded from the attacking 20-metre line instead of the 40-metre, has made teams which build their games on defence uncompetitive.<\/p>\n

\"TheThe Storm and Bulldogs have struggled with the quicker pace of the game this year.Getty\/NRL Photos\/Nathan Perri<\/p>\n

At the top of the list is the mighty Melbourne Storm, the kings of the wrestle, whose sustained excellence has been brought down by that 20-metre change.<\/p>\n

Defence isn\u2019t king any more. Speed is. And in the NRL in 2026, speed kills.<\/p>\n

To be fair, other factors have contributed to the Storm\u2019s poor start to the season. The loss of Eli Katoa for the year, and possibly for good, was out of their hands after he suffered a brain bleed from head knocks<\/a> in the warm-up and match for Tonga against New Zealand in November. Then Tui Kamikamica suffered a stroke<\/a>, an awful thing for such a young man.<\/p>\n

But before those twin blows, something was awry at the Storm late last year \u2013 despite their charge to the grand final.<\/p>\n

\"SouthSouth Sydney\u2019s Tallis\u00a0Duncan crossed for three tries against some woeful Storm defence on Saturday night.Getty Images<\/p>\n

Fullback Ryan Papenhuyzen walked away from the game aged 27 and Nelson Afosa-Solomona\u2019s relationship with the club deteriorated to the point of no return and he was gone, too.<\/p>\n

The desperation in the text messages from Storm chief executive Justin Rodski to NRL headquarters, released by the NSW Supreme Court, was there for all to see.<\/p>\n

The Storm knew then what we know now, after six straight losses. They were in trouble roster-wise and, apart from Katoa, it was their own doing.<\/p>\n

Rather than fix it themselves, they expected the NRL hierarchy to assist. When you\u2019re used to success, you\u2019ll try to keep it any way, anyhow.<\/p>\n

\"Latrell\u00a0MitchellLatrell\u00a0Mitchell has been in imposing form for the Rabbitohs in the opening rounds of the NRL. Getty Images<\/p>\n

The Storm\u2019s 48-6 Anzac Day humiliation at the hands of the Rabbitohs<\/a> will go down as one of the lowest points of their fabled 29-year history.<\/p>\n

In the point-scoring frenzy of this season, where 50-plus per match is the norm, they have wrestled themselves into oblivion.<\/p>\n

On the other hand, Wayne Bennett at 76, has shown again \u2013 just as he has since he began first-grade coaching at Souths in Brisbane in 1977 \u2013 that he can cope with any change the game throws up.<\/p>\n

The Rabbitohs are averaging 32 points per match and look top-four material. But that\u2019s predicated on two major factors \u2013 Cody Walker avoiding injury and Latrell Mitchell staying in the mood he\u2019s in.<\/p>\n

Also battling with the rule change are Cameron Ciraldo\u2019s Bulldogs.<\/p>\n

Ciraldo is a defensive genius, having built Penrith\u2019s all-conquering system under Ivan Cleary and bringing it with him to Canterbury.<\/p>\n

All recruitment and retention decisions at the club are based on players\u2019 ability to cope with Ciraldo\u2019s system.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Cowboys<\/a><\/p>\n

Over the past two years, it has driven the Dogs to successive finals appearances \u2013 but this season, the faster pace of the game has them looking slow and predictable.<\/p>\n

In successive weeks, they were out-run by lowly Parramatta then an under-manned Brisbane, leaving them with three wins and four losses. Not diabolical, but not where they thought they\u2019d be in Ciraldo\u2019s fourth season.<\/p>\n

Importantly, they can\u2019t score, averaging just 19 points per match. Only the Dragons, with 14 per match, are worse, and the less said about them the better.<\/p>\n

One of the difficulties in discussing the Bulldogs is the protection racket which surrounds Lachie Galvin.<\/p>\n

After his camp attempted to engineer his departure from Wests Tigers last year by denigrating their club legend coach<\/a>, media was basically warned off from discussing Galvin too heavily because he was \u201cjust a kid\u201d.<\/p>\n

He\u2019s on the cusp of turning 21 and is in his third season of first grade. So, it\u2019s time to discuss him, even if he won\u2019t discuss himself as the club has him on a media ban which somehow the NRL tolerates as it craves media attention before the crucial broadcast rights negotiations.<\/p>\n

\"BulldogsBulldogs half Lachie Galvin has been hot and cold for the club this season. Getty Images<\/p>\n

There are haves and have-nots in the competition. Always have been.<\/p>\n

Now and then, there is a flash of something from Galvin that shows his ability. But it\u2019s always just a flash. He has engaged the line 50 times this season \u2013 third in the whole competition, behind only Tom Dearden and Scott Drinkwater.<\/p>\n

But after that, his stats cupboard is bare. He\u2019s not in the top 50 for try assists, where he lags behind the likes of teammate Bronson Xerri, Jack Wighton and Hugo Savala.<\/p>\n

Related Article\"Tigers<\/a><\/p>\n

He has eight line-break assists (10th in the competition) and is 33rd for line break involvements with two.<\/p>\n

When you publicly declare you need out of a club because Benji Marshall lacks the coaching skills to unleash your Hall of Fame potential, you better deliver at your new joint.<\/p>\n

Let\u2019s compare Galvin to the guy at the Tigers who stuck his hand up and told Marshall that if Galvin didn\u2019t want to be there, he\u2019d do the job at seven.<\/p>\n

With the Tigers sitting where the Bulldogs thought they\u2019d be in equal second after eight rounds, Adam Douehi is having the season of his life and sits in the top 10 for try assists and line-break assists. He\u2019s also scored four of his own.<\/p>\n

The challenge for Craig Bellamy and Ciraldo now is to adapt, or die.<\/p>\n

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\"NeilNeil Breen<\/a> is the national sports editor and a Walkley Award-winning journalist.Connect via X<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Opinion Neil BreenNational sports editor April 29, 2026 \u2014 5:00am April 29, 2026 \u2014 5:00am Save You have…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":636900,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-636899","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-sports"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636899","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=636899"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/636899\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/636900"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=636899"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=636899"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=636899"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}