Canterbury Bulldogs head coach Cameron Ciraldo will be faced with one of the toughest selection questions of his career in the coming weeks, with three players needing to fit into two at Belmore.
The table topping team, fresh off another win over the South Sydney Rabbitohs on Sunday afternoon without Matt Burton who is in State of Origin camp, will need to decide what role Lachlan Galvin plays in through to the end of the season.
The common logic has been that Toby Sexton, who has been requesting a contract extension for much of the season but is yet to gain one despite guiding the blue and white to the top of the ladder, could be the man to make way, but a super performance on Sunday which Ciraldo labelled his 'best first half of the year' so far will add questions to an already difficult equation.
“I thought in particular in the first half, I thought they were both great,” Ciraldo said after Sunday afternoon's game.
“Lachie's a different style of player to what we've had and he just plays, plays with freedom.
“And I thought Toby had his best first half of the year as well. He was direct, he was challenging the line.
“I thought it was great signs for both of them. Great for them two to gel.
“There's been a lot of talk about a lot of outside noise, but those guys just put the team first and worked really hard together as a unit.”
In admitting it will make his halves equation tougher, Ciraldo now faces a monumental decision that could shape Canterbury's back half of the year.
While 2026 will be playing on the mind as well, Canterbury are among the premiership contenders right now, and the last thing the coach will want to do is upset the apple cart.
That could see Galvin play from the bench for the remainder of the campaign when the blue and white are at full strength, but that also leaves questions around the make up of the bench, with Bailey Hayward or Kurt Mann playing as the utility for much of the year.
There has been some talk Hayward could yet be used as a hooker, with Reed Mahoney to make way, while Burton could also feasibly shift into the centres, albeit it's unclear who would make way with both Stephen Crichton and Bronson Xerri in fine form.
