Canterbury captain Stephen Crichton suffered an AC shoulder injury in another unhappy outing for the Bulldogs in the traditional Good Friday clash against South Sydney, going down 32-24.
Crichton suffered the injury just four minutes after half-time and was unable to return, despite attempts in the sheds to prove his fitness.
The NSW centre is scheduled to undergo scans to determine the extent of the damage, but is unlikely to be available for Thursday’s clash against the Panthers.
“It’s not looking great in there,” Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo said of Crichton.
“They’re saying it’s a high-grade two, grade three possibly AC, that’s the early thoughts on it.
“He’ll be out for a while, but it’s an opportunity for someone else.”
Leading by a converted try at the time of Crichton’s injury, the Bulldogs lost their composure and the lead in his absence. Neither were regained.
Crichton’s departure resulted in a backline reshuffle of Matt Burton to centre and the injection of Sean O’Sullivan into the halves. There are some pundits that believe this is how the team should be configured all the time.
Ciraldo didn’t blame Crichton’s absence for an ill-disciplined second half performance.
“Unless he took the whistle off the referee, he couldn’t have done much about the second half,” he said.
Perhaps pointedly, Bronson Xerri wasn’t activated, despite being a like-for-like replacement for Crichton. Perhaps we will witness his NRL return next week.
Canterbury didn’t look likely without their skipper. This was a contest of shifting momentum, but the Bulldogs couldn’t regain it when it mattered.
Burton was back in the centres, but no one wanted to witness the shift under these circumstances. Like halves partner Lachlan Galvin, there has been ongoing speculation about his position.
Assuming Crichton will be unavailable against Penrith, there will be an added level of intrigue when Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo names his next team on Tuesday afternoon.
In matches like this it comes down to moments of individual brilliance, and the Rabbitohs had more of them. Like when Alex Johnston, loitering in the Bulldogs backline, grabbed an errant Connor Tracey pass and sprinted the length of the field. The records keep on tumbling: this was his 97th try in 99 games at Accor Stadium.
And of course, Latrell Mitchell wouldn’t be outdone. Having already scored in the opening half, he displayed silky skills with his second try. Travelling at pace and off balance, he reached down to his bootlaces to pick up a bouncing ball that would have evaded any other set of hands.
It marks the Rabbitohs’ seventh win from eight Good Friday encounters. Just when Bulldogs social media editors thought it was safe to turn the comments section back on.
Little of the criticism found on the club’s official Instagram or Facebook pages in recent days has been constructive, so we’ll attempt to provide an appropriate précis of their latest performance here.
Much has been made about the quantity of Galvin’s involvements. Now let’s discuss the quality.
The highlight moment, of course, came late in the first half. Recognising the fullback was out of position – just like Cody Walker did moments earlier to set up Mitchell – the halfback put through a perfectly weighted grubber and beat teammate Sitili Tupouniua in the race to ground it.
In one play we witnessed all the mythical qualities demanded of the man controversially handed the No.7 jersey: vision, anticipation, a radar boot and speed to burn.
This was Galvin playing on the front foot, when momentum was with his side and ball in hand in the red zone. However, he was unable to do it when it mattered; when his captain was missing and the momentum against him. There will be other opportunities; the kid is still just 20 years old.
It’s said that styles make fights. This was a case of a team that defends well against a team that attacks well. On this occasion, the team with more strike prevailed.