The Bulldogs slumped to their third loss of the season after going down to the Rabbitohs on Good Friday, and The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield has panned the club’s poor recruitment in the halves.
Souths won the game despite the Bulldogs dominating the possession and the tackles inside opposition 20 count (42-18).
Rothfield noted that the Bulldogs had “no one to manage the attack” and should have been able to capitalise better.
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Coach Cameron Ciraldo named Drew Hutchison as the Round 1 starter, and while he looked quite good in the win over the lowly Titans last week, the Bulldogs halfback failed to inspire much against the Rabbitohs.
“Hutchison is a goer and tries hard every week. But he’s not a week-in, week-out NRL halfback,” Rothfield wrote in his Monday Buzz column.
“They are lacking cohesion and communication.”
Defensively, the Bulldogs are far and away a better side than what they were in 2023 when they leaked the most points in the comp.
This season, they’ve only conceded 71 points across four games (just under 18ppg). It’s a noticeable improvement which Ciraldo can hang his hat on, however, the lack of points in them despite boasting the likes of Matt Burton, Stephen Crichton, Viliame Kikau and Josh Addo-Carr, is a little alarming.
Rothfield praised the Bulldogs for landing players of this caliber, but stressed that without a decent to quality halfback, all the talent in the world won’t matter.
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“You look at the halves the Bulldogs have used since Phil Gould started in 2021. Drew Hutchison, Toby Sexton, Kyle Flanagan, Matt Burton, Jake Averillo and Brandon Wakeham,” Rothfield said.
“They threw millions at Mitchell Moses and tried to get Shaun Johnson. Both passed.
“They also tried Ben Hunt when he was unhappy and unsettled at the Dragons.
“The Bulldogs would have beaten Souths on Good Friday had their playmaking options have been better.”
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A similar situation is unfolding on the Gold Coast.
The Titans were tipped by many good judges to compete for a top eight spot this season with a roster containing David Fifita, Jayden Campbell, Moe Fotuiaka, AJ Brimson, Tino Fa’asuamaleaui and premiership-winning coach Des Hasler.
However, there were question marks around their halfback stocks after the incumbent Tanah Boyd, struggled at times last season.
In 2024, Boyd has clearly regressed, and after a 0-3 start against teams who missed the eight last year (Dolphins, Dragons, Bulldogs), there’s every chance the Titans halfback will be dropped for next weekend’s game against North Queensland.
Ironically, the Titans had Toby Sexton on their roster last year before he was granted a release to join the Bulldogs.
Sexton hasn’t set the world on fire in his 31 NRL games, but looks to add more in attack than Hutchison as not only a runner but a creator as well.
We’ll see what Ciraldo elects to do at the selection table this week.
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