Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has paid tribute to his forwards after a hard-fought win over the North Queensland Cowboys, 12-8, in Townsville.
Despite star Bulldogs five-eighth Matt Burton having to leave the field for a second-half HIA, Ciraldo was also comfortable with the pre-game decision to leave Lachlan Galvin out of the final seventeen, instead opting for four bench forwards.
“When (Matt Burton) went down I was thinking ‘maybe it wasn’t the right decision’ but it was clearly the right decision because our forwards tackled their arses off,” Ciraldo said after the Round 19 match.
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“I thought we needed four forwards on the bench as Kingy (Max King) was backing up from Origin, it was Jaeman Salmon’s first game back,” he continued, revealing the Bulldogs had studied the Cowboys-Storm game last week in Townsville.
“A lot of guys were cramping up in that last 20 minutes, so we thought it was really important to carry and extra forward tonight,” Ciraldo said.
With Galvin out of the seventeen, Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney reverted to playing the full 80 minutes, as did number seven, Toby Sexton.
“It just thought it was a really tough performance, an incredible effort,” Ciraldo added.
“I think we had to make sixty more tackles in conditions we’re not quite used to—it was hot and humid out there.”
The latest win sees the Bulldogs remain in third place on the NRL ladder, equal with the Melbourne Storm on 30 competition points.
Canterbury’s next match is at home against the eleventh-placed Dragons.