{"id":750384,"date":"2026-06-21T07:37:18","date_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:37:18","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750384\/"},"modified":"2026-06-21T07:37:18","modified_gmt":"2026-06-21T07:37:18","slug":"nrl-2026-canterbury-bulldogs-matt-burton-stephen-crichton-and-lachlan-galvin-in-latest-halves-shake-up","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/750384\/","title":{"rendered":"NRL 2026: Canterbury Bulldogs\u2019 Matt Burton, Stephen Crichton and Lachlan Galvin in latest halves shake-up"},"content":{"rendered":"

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Canterbury\u2019s decision to switch skipper Stephen Crichton to five-eighth sets in motion a potentially season-saving run of games and the Bulldogs\u2019 next contract puzzle with Matt Burton and Bronson Xerri.<\/p>\n

Crichton was a surprise starter in the halves in Saturday\u2019s gritty golden-point win<\/a> over the high-flying Sea Eagles, which coach Cameron Ciraldo said afterwards was made in part to reduce Burton\u2019s playmaking responsibilities.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 short turnaround to face the Titans on Friday has Ciraldo expected to play the same backline formation \u2013 pending how players recover \u2013 after Xerri was relegated to the bench against Manly without seeing any game time.<\/p>\n

After just three victories from their first 10 matches, Canterbury have now won three of their past four, with winnable games against the Gold Coast (15th), Raiders (14th) and Tigers (10th) to come in the next month.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs\u2019 attack has still struggled for impact in tense, low-scoring wins over Parramatta and Manly.<\/p>\n

Lachlan Galvin scored a critical solo try and Crichton kicked the match-winning field goal against the Sea Eagles, but the latter believed he \u201coverplayed\u201d his hand slotting into the halves \u2013 largely shelving his running game for a distribution role on the left.<\/p>\n

\"HowHow long will Stephen Crichton stay in the five-eighth role for Canterbury?Getty Images<\/p>\n

Burton, however, was much improved at centre, making 19 carries for 144 metres and handling the ball 28 times, a significant drop from the 49 touches he has averaged in the halves this season.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe trained this for two weeks over the bye and I thought the way Burto trained over those two weeks, and the way he played, I thought he was brilliant,\u201d Ciraldo said.<\/p>\n

Whether Burton shifts permanently from the scrum base is a key facet in his next contract beyond 2027, though he has made clear to Canterbury hierarchy that he is not particularly fazed on what position he plays.<\/p>\n

The Bulldogs and Burton are keen for him to stay at Belmore<\/a>, but no extension offer has been tabled as yet.<\/p>\n

\"MattMatt Burton thrived in his return to centre against Manly.NRL Photos<\/p>\n

Canterbury general manager Phil Gould referred to Burton\u2019s potential market value \u2013 particularly as a marquee half in the sights of the Perth Bears<\/a> \u2013 last month on The Bye Round podcast.<\/p>\n

\u201cOver the next 18 months we\u2019ve got to work out what we pay Matt Burton,\u201d Gould said, referencing what is typically a lower earning capacity playing at centre.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf he plays centre, what are you going to pay him? If he plays five-eighth, what are you going to pay him? Well, he\u2019s got some decisions to make.\u201d<\/p>\n

Xerri\u2019s Bulldogs future will also come under renewed scrutiny should he remain on the outer given he and Gould had to clear the air when he was axed earlier this year<\/a>, triggering reports he was unhappy and wanted out of the club.<\/p>\n

No release request was sought by Xerri before he regained his NRL position, and Ciraldo praised his handling of Saturday night\u2019s shake-up.<\/p>\n

\u201cBronson\u2019s good; he understands,\u201d Ciraldo said. \u201cHis energy all week and all day on the bench was outstanding. He clearly put the team first, as disappointed as he would have been.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe love Bronson, and he\u2019s on a journey to find his best form. We saw it a couple of weeks ago against Melbourne, and we\u2019d love to see more of it.<\/p>\n

\u201cBurto moving to left centre was part of it, but [right centre] Enari [Tuala] has been our best player all year hands down … that\u2019s footy sometimes.\u201d<\/p>\n

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

Crichton\u2019s move to five-eighth is Canterbury\u2019s latest halves shift since Galvin\u2019s arrival a year ago<\/a>, with the flow-on effect throughout Ciraldo\u2019s side a source of non-stop headlines and conjecture.<\/p>\n

Injured playmaking prodigy Mitchell Woods remains the club\u2019s long-term halfback priority, while Canterbury\u2019s recent interest in Penrith\u2019s Jesse McLean to replace the retiring Marcelo Montoya adds another moving piece to their roster machinations.<\/p>\n

At this stage McLean is not seeking a pre-June 30 move. But the older brother of NSW Origin star Casey has been granted permission by the Panthers to move on at season\u2019s end despite being contracted until the end of 2028. It is unclear if Penrith would chip in some of his salary at a new club.<\/p>\n

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\"DanDan Walsh<\/a> is a sports reporter for The Sydney Morning Herald.Connect via X<\/a> or email<\/a>.From our partners<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Save You have reached your maximum number of saved items. Remove items from your saved list to add…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":750385,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,761,762,158,85],"class_list":["post-750384","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\/750384","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=750384"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/750384\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/750385"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=750384"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=750384"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=750384"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}