Taking aim at the struggling attack of the Canterbury Bulldogs, Gorden Tallis has declared that the side was more effective in attack last year.
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This was when they had Toby Sexton and Reed Mahoney in the spine rather than the current combination of Lachlan Galvin and Bailey Hayward, which saw them sit near the top of the ladder throughout last season.
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“The attack was better with Sexton and Reed Mahoney,” Tallis said on Triple M’s Sunday Sin Bin.
“If you’re a Dogs fan and you were sitting with all the drums and filling the stadium, I would argue that the side that was playing last year would beat the side at the moment in attack.”
The statement from Tallis comes after questions continue to mount about the Bulldogs’ ability to generate points after their eight-point loss to the Newcastle Knights on the weekend.
Held scoreless in the opening 40 minutes, coach Cameron Ciraldo decided to make several positional changes to his side in attack, most notably switching the roles of Stephen Crichton and Matt Burton – the latter moved to the centres while Crichton played as a playmaker.
However, it was the performance of halfback Lachlan Galvin that drew the most scrutiny.
Instead of organising the attack like a typical No.7, the former Wests Tigers playmaker failed to create opportunities and rather decided to run the ball 17 times throughout the match – the fourth most by a Bulldogs player during the match on Saturday.
Brought to the club as “the solution”, he has shown glimpses of excitement but has failed to stamp his authority in matches like many were expecting him to.
“It’s your job as a 7 and a 6 to get him [Stephen Crichton] the football,” Tallis said.
“That’s your job, it’s not that hard to set up a play and give him the ball (or) to push the play on the side of field and Galvin can’t do that.
“I know he’s not all the problem, but he’s supposed to be the solution. That’s what he was brought in for.”
Ben Dobbin added. “He’s not showing me that he’s a superstar.”
Ciraldo addresses Burton & Critta switch | 05:09
Speaking after the match, Ciraldo opened up on the second-half spine switch which saw him give Crichton the license to roam and get his hands on the ball more to make an impact.
While he said that it was fatigue that prompted the decision, he was quizzed on whether the club’s captain could make the permanent switch to the halves in the coming weeks and months.
“Oh look today it was just like what can we do to change the course of the game right now,” he said.
“He’s trained in that position a lot over the last two pre-seasons and those guys are pretty interchangeable.
“But you know, obviously Burto was out five-eighth and Critta was out centre today but we needed to do something to change the energy of the game.
“I thought both those guys, that move actually helped us get some more energy and get a bit more footy in our play.”