Picking up their first win since Round 1 against the North Queensland Cowboys, the Canterbury Bulldogs are asking to keep Kyle Flanagan at halfback going forward.
Paul Vaughan and Josh Addo-Carr have claimed that "the team does look better" since Kyle Flanagan's inclusion in round five.
Losing their first three games with Flanagan wearing number seven, he wasn't an immediate cure. He did, however, solve a key issue in the Bulldogs team, making a significant difference to the team's control and kicking game.
The club had previously cycled through Jake Averillo and Brandon Wakeham in the position to start the season without much success.
“I think the team does look a lot better with Kyle in it,” Bulldogs prop Paul Vaughan told reporters on Monday.
“Hopefully, long term or certainly this year, he’ll cement that position there as our halfback.”
It's arguable that the Bulldogs should have persevered with Flanagan in 2021, in preparation for the inclusion of Matt Burton. Oddly, Flanagan was barely sighted in the pre-season trials alongside Trent Barrett, suggesting he has quickly risen up the pecking order at the besieged club.
While Flanagan isn't leading the team and controlling the game like Cooper Cronk, he has grounded the team and given them an increase in direction and stability.
“We’re just trying to work together to build that strong unity there in the spine. Hopefully, we can keep on going,” Vaughan said.
Josh Add-Carr, who finally went over to score against the Brisbane Broncos, now has four in two games. He says it isn't luck that Matt Burton has looked better since Kyle Flanagan's reintroduction.
“I feel like ever since Flano has come into the team, Burto has come to life,” Addo-Carr said.
The Bulldogs, who face the depleted and poorly performing Canberra Raiders this week, will look to go back-to-back for the first time since Round 23, 2019. Addo-Carr says they can't lose focus after a few wins.
“We’ve got to beat every team, every weekend,” he said,
“We need to sort our defence and with our attack, we just need to focus on what we need to do, the little things, and play with that energy that we played with on the weekend. It’s really contagious.”
The Raiders will be missing Jack Wighton due to suspension, who has been in some of the best form of his career. The Fox says the Bulldogs won't underestimate Canberra because of his absence.
“They’re still a quality team, no matter who’s on the park,” he said.
“Ricky Stuart’s got a really tough side. Every time we play the Canberra Raiders, they’re always physical.”
Paul Vaughan has said that playing the Raiders at home will be a "good test".
“Everyone knows how hard it is to go down there and win at Canberra Stadium,” he said.
“It’s going to be a good test for us. I’m sure all the boys will be looking forward to it because we need to start to get a roll on."
