Canterbury are set to lose two key members of their spine as the ramifications of Lachie Galvin’s mid-season switch start to take effect at the club.

Bulldogs hooker Reed Mahoney and halfback Toby Sexton look set to leave the club at season’s end as the club tries to alleviate salary cap pressure brought on by Galvin’s immediate arrival and Kiwi prop Leo Thompson heading to Belmore in 2026 from Newcastle.

There have been reports that Sexton could be out the door before the June 30 deadline but Gould was fuming at his manager Tas Bartlett on 100% Footy on Monday night.

“Firstly on the articles regarding Toby Sexton, I haven’t seen them but I’ll guarantee you it’s the same journalist that’s written all the other ones in the last 12 months, who happens to be a friend of the manager who’s obviously agitating for Toby Sexton to get re-signed,” he said.

“I’ll ignore all that rubbish and I’m ignoring this rubbish.

“I met with Toby Sexton a number of times in the last month, talking about his football and where his contract was. I didn’t want it to be playing on his mind. It’s an important decision for us and it’s an important decision for Toby as to where he fits.

“We spoke again on Friday and I admitted to him on Friday that the previous day I’d had some discussions with Lachlan Galvin. We keep our players well informed of what we’re doing, we’re honest with them.

“He’s out there busting his backside, it’s the media which creates the issues around extensions. We’re not in any contract discussions with Toby at the moment – his manager keeps pushing for it and we keep saying no, we’re on another mission.”

Sexton has a 61 per cent win rate in the Canterbury No.7 jersey.

He said Mahoney’s manager, Sam Ayoub, enquired about whether the hooker would be re-signed beyond the end of next year and Gould could not give him a guarantee so he is exploring the market.

“I said by then the salary cap is going to be tight, happy for you to have a look at him if you want to. So it came at his request. How that got into the media I don’t know and who leaked that I don’t know,” he said.

“It was certainly at his request, it wasn’t our request and there’s absolutely no talk at all it’s immediate. That was just an innocent request from the manager some time ago.”

Toby Sexton collides with Kurt Donoghoe. (Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images)

The other quandary for Canterbury is what Galvin’s arrival means for fellow 19-year-old Mitchell Woods, who has long been viewed as the Bulldogs’ future No.7.

Gould also arced up at questions from Nine reporter Michael Chammas calling it gibber and claiming “you say a lot of things that aren’t true” in a heated panel discussion.

“You exaggerate what’s going on and that makes it difficult for us,” he said.

“It has an effect on the players and their families.”

He refuted claims that he was misleading about his interest in Galvin weeks ago by saying “I did not see that scenario happening at all”.

“Everything I said was 100 per cent the truth at the time,” he added.

“What I don’t like here is sitting here with a bloke like you questioning my credibility. I misled no one – mind your words, son.”

 Gould insisted that Galvin’s arrival would not cause animosity from other players if he was to take their spot.

“No. None at all. That’s the least of my worries,” Gould said.

“I don’t think anyone denies he is a talent. And you win premierships with talented players. It’s my responsibility to get talented players into the club.

“I think it will create great competition, that’s what it’ll create if he turns up.

“He’s got talent. Why wouldn’t you want a talented player at your football club? And why wouldn’t the other players want talent at their football club? They do.”

AFB in doubt

Cronulla have a much-needed bye this week and they could be without star prop Addin Fonua-Blake when they return next week.

Fonua-Blake suffered a shoulder injury in their shock loss to the Roosters on Saturday night and will be racing the clock to be right for next Saturday’s showdown with the Warriors at Shark Park.

It’s the last thing coach Craig Fitzgibbon needs after his full-strength team was embarrassed 42-16 by a Roosters team missing five Origin stars.

With fellow forwards Teig Wilton (shoulder), Tom Hazelton (sternum) and Toby Rudolf (syndesmosis) also in the casualty ward and wingers Ronaldo Mulitalo (suspension), Sione Katoa (shoulder) and Sam Stonestreet (ankle) out of action, the Sharks’ depth will be tested against the Warriors.

with AAP