Canterbury Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould has revealed young gun Mitchell Woods has picked up an injury in the lead up to the season.
While Gould clarified that the injury is nothing major, the timing of it means he will likely miss both of Canterbury's pre-season challenge matches, and could be ruled out of the trip to Las Vegas.
That is yet to be confirmed either way by the club, but the Bulldogs' first trial against the North Queensland Cowboys is just over a week away, with a second against the Newcastle Knights to follow just a week later before a travelling party departs to Las Vegas where they will play the St George Illawarra Dragons as part of the opening double-header to the season.
“Unfortunately Mitchell [Woods] picked another injury this week. Nothing major,” Bulldogs GM of Football Phil Gould said on X (formerly known as Twitter).
“Just set him back a couple of weeks. All part of the journey with young players.”
Woods was no guarantee of being picked by the Bulldogs to start the season, but was certainly in the mix.
The 2025 New South Wales under-19 representative is the only straight up and down halfback at the club heading into 2026, with Canterbury instead likely to run former Wests Tigers' five-eighth Lachlan Galvin in the number seven jumper, forming a halves combination with Matt Burton.
That comes after Toby Sexton, who was dropped during the second half of 2025, was allowed to exit Belmore at the end of the campaign.
Galvin and Burton forming a halves combination means Woods is next in line for a position if either form or injuries strike.
