Toby Sexton and Lachie Galvin have given Cameron Ciraldo plenty to think about at the selection table with both halves putting their best foot forward in Sunday’s 24-18 triumph over South Sydney.
Each playmaker was heavily involved in Canterbury’s attack as the competition leaders held off a committed Rabbitohs side to keep their noses in front of Canberra and the Warriors at the top of the ladder.
The Bulldogs’ early momentum was halted by a 30-minute delay when play was halted at Accor Stadium over safety concerns due to an afternoon storm filled with lightning strikes.
With nearby thunderbolts prompting noticeable gasps from the spectators, security staff told fans to get under cover in what was the first stoppage of a match due to weather since the 2015 Anzac Day clash between the Roosters and Dragons was hit by a hailstorm.
1. Scary scenes with lightning bolts overhead
The NRL had little alternative but to order the players and officials off the field late in the first half
With the Bulldogs up 18-0 with just under nine minutes left before half-time, referee Adam Gee brought an abrupt halt to play.
“We’ve got to go in, the ground manager said, because of the lightning,” he told the players midway through a South Sydney set.
The NRL rules are that play does not have to be stopped for a mandatory period of time and a match resumes in these circumstances when ground officials declare it is safe to do so.
Heavy rain was falling at the time but with thunder rumbling around the stadium and lightning strikes visible in the area, fans were told to retreat to the undercover areas of the venue.
The playing area was totally vacant within minutes of the referee intervening and play has been delayed for 15 minutes already.
After half an hour of trying to stay warm in the sheds, the players returned as the storm had moved well away from the stadium – it was an almost eerie scene with the ground now free of rain and many fans returned to the seats near the sideline, no longer needing the safety of the undercover areas.
2. No clear winner in Dogs halves shoot-out
The mid-season addition of Lachie Galvin from the Wests Tigers is undoubtedly a boost to Canterbury’s talent pool but it also has the possibility of upsetting a previously happy camp.
With Matt Burton unavailable due to being in the NSW squad, Galvin was promoted to the starting side in his favourite position of five-eighth for his second match in the blue and white.
Toby Sexton, the unsigned and apparently unwanted halfback who has played every match of their 10-2 start to the season, kept the No.7 jersey to pair the perfect strangers together.
Canterbury have tried to claim that this was not a shoot-out between the two playmakers for the spot alongside Burton in their next match after the bye but no amount of PR spin can hide the fact that coach Cameron Ciraldo has a crucial decision to make.
Does he stay loyal to Sexton who has proved the ideal foil for Burton as a chief organiser or does he unleash the teenage tyro who has been talked up left, right and centre by club boss Phil Gould before and after his recent acquisition.
Tyrone Munro is tackled at Accor Stadium. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
Both halves played key roles in Canterbury’s hot start to the match and did little wrong to make Ciraldo’s impending tough decision even harder.
Galvin actually had more touches over the course of the contest but Sexton did the lion’s share of the kicking duties.
With the Dogs riding high at the top of the ladder, whichever way Ciraldo goes, his selection choice has the potential to continue their impressive momentum but potentially throw an unwanted spanner into the works as the business end of the season looms on the horizon.
3. Rabbitohs gritty to the end
South Sydney’s faint chances of being title contenders snapped the moment Cameron Murray’s Achilles did likewise in the pre-season.
The loss of their captain’s leadership was monumental enough but having to make do without his tireless efforts in attack and defence was always going to make their 2025 campaign an uphill battle.
They have soldiered on to remain on the fringe of the top eight for the opening 15 rounds but they are starting to fray at the edges as Latrell Mitchell’s Origin unavailability and Cody Walker’s repeated soft-tissue injuries reduce their effectiveness.
After going down 18-0 to the Dogs a huge loss was on the cards but Wayne Bennett has instilled plenty of fight into this team in his second stint at Souths.
They reduced the gap to eight midway through the second half to raise hopes of an unlikely comeback win but Canterbury’s class was too much in the end.
Souths are now down in 14th spot with a 6-8 record and with the Storm coming to Homebush next week before they hit the road to face the Dolphins and Sea Eagles, their flickering finals hopes could be over by the time they have their second bye week in Round 19.
4. A thunderous start before stormfront closes in
It would have taken a lot more than lightning for the Rabbitohs to strike back after conceding three tries in the opening 15 minutes.
Sexton started and finished the first try-scoring play, Galvin spun the ball wide for Marcelo Montoya to touch down before Connor Tracey was also the creator and the player diving over the stripe to make it 18-0.
The old saying of the reason why wingers score so many tries being because they’re defended by wingers was in full display for the first two four-pointers.
Alex Johnston rushed infield to leave Sexton unmarked and Tyrone Munro was found wanting on the other flank when Montoya breezed past him.
The unexpected gap in play gives Souths a chance to regroup after the Dogs blew them away in the opening stages.
Johnston made amends just before the delayed half-time siren when he collected the crumbs from a kick ricochet which looked to have bounced off teammate Lachlan Hubner’s fingertips but was cleared by the Bunker.
Play was delayed again 12 minutes in the second stanza when Dogs centre Jacob Kiraz suffered a neck injury but thankfully he was able to resume his place in the defensive line.
Montoya’s second try on the hour mark gave Canterbury 12 points worth of breathing space but when Jake Turpin was sin-binned a short time later for a high shot, blue and white heart rates were on the rise again.
Jack Wighton backed up a Tallis Duncan break with seven minutes left on the clock but Jamie Humphreys’ sideline conversion attempt bounced the wrong way off the upright and the Dogs hung on for victory despite a Munro consolation try in the closing stages.
5. Bunnies not getting value out of Wighton
When Wighton opted to join Souths a couple of years ago, he reportedly turned his back on hundreds of thousands of dollars to take a lesser contract than the one being offered by his old club Canberra.
It looked like the Bunnies were getting a bargain by gaining a former Dally M Medal winner at below market rate.
Wighton was used at left centre in his first season in the cardinal and myrtle before playing the second half of the year at five-eighth when Cody Walker was injured.
Walker is again sidelined but Wayne Bennett has kept the former Raiders star in the centres with Jayden Sullivan and Jamie Humphreys preferred as the playmakers.
They are not getting value for money with Wighton confined to the left channel of the field – either switch him into the halves or get him roaming around more to boost the Bunnies’ offensive strikepower.
The Kick: Dogs dudded by 18th decision
Matt Burton should have been strutting his stuff for the Bulldogs at Accor Stadium rather than being cooped up in Origin camp with NSW.
The 18th name on the Blues’ teamsheet, his mission on Wednesday night at Optus Stadium is to sit on the bench for 80 minutes just in case there are sufficient concussions or a major act of foul play which will activate him for the game.
Burton is becoming the Andy Bichel of the NSW Blues – this is the fifth time he’s been the game-day reserve in Origin although he is still well shy of the former Queensland’s fast bowler’s 19 Tests as 12th man for Australia.
Bulldogs general manager Phil Gould raised a conspiracy theory in the lead-up to the game that Souths deliberately withdrew Campbell Graham, who held the role for NSW in game one, from selection due to injury so that Burton would get the gig, thereby ruling him out of the duel with the Bunnies.
Gould thought that Graham would then be a “late inclusion” after being named on South Sydney’s extended bench but Wayne Bennett shot down that theory by saying the centre was unfit to play and telling reporters you can “finish up down any path” if you buy whatever his former coaching rival says.
The NRL will surely change this rule soon so that club footy is not further affected by Origin just on the off chance that the fifth reserve on the bench is called into the fray.
