Bulldogs unveil new halves combination for NRL round one
Canterbury halfback Lachlan Lewis has revealed he was shocked to find out Brandon Wakeham had beaten Jack Cogger to the no.6 jumper. The Prince of Belmore is also ready to take full ownership of the Bulldogs in 2020.
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Canterbury halfback Lachlan Lewis revealed he was as shocked as Brandon Wakeham to find out the livewire five-eighth had beaten Jack Cogger to a round one starting spot.
Wakeham and Cogger had spent the pre-season battling it out for a chance to partner Lewis in the halves. It appeared Cogger had edged ahead in that race but coach Dean Pay sprung a selection surprise last Saturday.
“Yeah I was [surprised]. We trialled both times with Coggs [Cogger] in the starting side but they both had equal minutes [in the trial]. I was surprised but that’s the head coach's [job], that’s what they’re for and I believe in Dean,” Lewis said.
“On Thursday we’ll see if he’s made the right choice.
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“I have full confidence in Wakes [Wakeham] and I can’t wait to play with the little fella and I hope we all play well so things don’t turn around and we start pointing fingers.”
Wakeham, a Bulldogs local junior, wasn’t expecting to see his name in Pay’s starting 13 for this Thursday’s clash against the Parramatta Eels at Bankwest Stadium.
“We came into training last Saturday and (Pay) just put the team lists up on the board and I was there, No. 6,” Wakeham revealed.
“I thought I played pretty good during the trials and put my best foot forward. I thought still at the end it was probably hard for ‘Deano’ to choose the no. 6.
“I’m happy that he chose me and hopefully I won’t let the team and boys down.”
Despite Wakeham, 21, only having three NRL games to his name, Lewis is backing the wily playmaker to successfully file the hole left by Kieran Foran. Foran is out with a shoulder injury and is unlikely to be fit until the back end of the season.
“He is [up to it]. We’ve done a lot of work the three of us – me, Coggs and Wakes – subbing in and out and I’m equally confident in either men. Deano [Dean Pay] has chosen Wakes and you know what, he’s going to go out there and play really well on Thursday,” Lewis said.
But Lewis has warned Wakeham to expect to be a marked man at Bankwest Stadium.
“He needs to work on his defence because they are going to target him. He’s a young kid in the halves and halves have it hard as is but he’ll rise to that challenge. He’s got great skill, he’s got big shoes to fill but we’ll take a lot of that load and he’ll go out and do it,” Lewis
said.
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Given the inexperience of Wakeham and Foran’s long-term injury, Lewis must now step-up into the role as the man who steers the Bulldogs around the park.
It’s a ‘responsibility’ Lewis believes he is ready-made for but interestingly not one he feels any pressure about taking on.
“Not pressure, [I feel] responsibility. I guess responsibility is the burden of greatness... and in this sport that is the burden we all take in the halves. Playing in the halves you’re the man that gets blamed if you’re team isn’t playing well and I take that responsibility on. If anything happens in our attack that’s on me,” Lewis said.
“I’m excited about the fact that I can be ‘the’ man to run the side, I love that. I talk a lot and that’s what I have always striven for.”
Elsewhere in Canterbury’s backline Reimis Smith confirmed he will start at left centre on Thursday with Nick Meaney on the edge.