Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has defined his complicated determination to play Reed Mahoney off the bench earlier than inserting him into his facet’s Panthers conflict as a ball-playing ahead.
The 25-year-old Canterbury skipper had battled an sickness which ravaged the Bulldogs’ squad through the week, with backrower Jacob Preston a late omission.
Ciraldo defined Mahoney insisted on taking part in and with Flanagan coaching at dummy-half all week, he stored the previous halfback on for 80 minutes.
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“Just the way the game was going, I thought Kyle was going pretty well and that’s the way we trained all week,” Ciraldo mentioned within the post-match press convention.
“Reed was crook all week and didn’t train with us, then the lack of numbers we just needed to find a ball-playing forward and Reed was happy to do that role.
“We knew he’d only pump out minimal minutes but we just thought we’d put Reed in there and get his 30 minutes out.
“He probably shouldn’t have played but as a captain he wanted to be out there with the boys.”
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Mahoney performed 27 minutes in two stints on both facet of halftime and was praised for his gutsy efficiency by Ciraldo.
“I thought he did his best, it’s not ideal having two small forwards against a big pack like Penrith,” Ciraldo mentioned.
“I thought him and Kyle hustled really well and scrapped… I’m proud of the way they did there.
“Today is was just about having the players available, so if Reed didn’t play we were pretty short on numbers there.
“There’s probably three or four guys who shouldn’t have played, Jacob Preston pulled out today.
“We had to take Okunbor off after 45 minutes and he did really well just to be out there for that period of time, really gutsy performance.”
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Ciraldo additionally revealed 15 gamers of the Bulldogs’ high 30 have been battling damage or sickness with a bunch of huge names returning subsequent week together with Viliame Kikau and Josh Addo-Carr.
But for rugby league legend Michael Ennis, Mahoney ought to by no means have taken the sphere.
Ennis believes Ciraldo’s facet would have benefited extra from selecting one other ahead, with Jackson Topine a possible choice after he was named as 18th man.
“I’m confused, if he’s sick then he probably shouldn’t be playing.,” Ennis mentioned.
“And if he’s that tenacious and wants to play you would imagine he comes into his preferred No.9 position, where he is one of the best in the game.
“Yeah he’s a little out of form.
“But if he’s out of form and not in the team he probably should be dropped, because he has not made any impact at thirteen, he looks out of sorts… he looks really uncomfortable.”
Source: www.foxsports.com.au