‘Next man up’: Bulldogs injury horrorshow deepens in Eels belting

The Canterbury Bulldogs have been put down by arch rivals the Parramatta Eels, which further exposed the club’s diabolical crisis.

The Bulldogs are having a mare. Photo: NRL and Getty Images

The Canterbury Bulldogs were valiant in defeat despite the Parramatta Eels running up a 30-4 scoreline in the clash between the traditional rivals.

It comes after yet another injury to a key backline star as Jacob Kiraz went down early with a knee injury after just 10 minutes against the Eels.

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The club says Kiraz has injured the MCL in his right knee after he was caught awkwardly in a three-man tackle, with the damaging ball-carrier set to be a huge loss given his willingness to do all the dirty work coming out of trouble.

To make matters worse, centre Jake Averillo played out the match but was in clear discomfort with a right knee complaint. The NRL even added him to its online casualty ward.

Kiraz now joins the mounting injury list including Josh Addo-Carr who is expected to be out until round 15.

The Bulldogs just can’t take a trick at the moment and will have to turn to either Braidon Burns, Declan Casey or former sevens star Jeral Skelton who could make his NRL debut after some strong performances in NSW Cup.

It’s not a great look for the Bulldogs. Photo by Matt King/Getty Images

They were already so short that Jayden Okunbor – who has been playing in the middle this year – started on the left wing and then shifted to the right edge where he played alongside Averillo.

It’s gotten so bad that rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo said it was the worst injury toll he’d ever seen.

“It is now,” Ciraldo admitted. “It is, but that’s footy. These things happen. Clubs go through it from time to time. I’ve seen it a number of times over the years where it looks unlucky and feels unlucky but it’s just footy. That’s why you’ve got a top 30, you’ve got guys there who are just going to have to come in and do the job and be the next man up.

“This is why you have a club with a three grades all aspiring to be NRL players.”

Ciraldo also admitted that within the club’s fit players, there’s still plenty of walking wounded.

“Jake (Averillo) was battling, there were a couple of other guys out there that probably shouldn’t be playing at the moment but they’re playing because we need them to play,” he said.

“This club is built on determination and grit and we’re showing plenty of it at the moment.

“In the future, whether it’s in six months or one year or two years, we’re going to look back at this period and it’s going to be the making of some of these guys.”

Cameron Ciraldo has had a tough run. Photo: NRL

For the Eels, while they weren’t at their best, the side made minced meat of the Bulldogs in front of a near capacity home crowd.

Although the commentators said they expected the Eels to run up a score against the Bulldogs, the five tries to one win came on the back of four line breaks and nearly 600 more running metres than the Bulldogs.

Eels prop Reagan Campbell-Gillard was the star for the home side, running for a game high 198m, including a line break and a try.

There was some extra spice for Campbell-Gillard’s try as well, as he scored it over the top of former teammate Reed Mahoney.

It was a disastrous day for Mahoney whose first game against his former side couldn’t have gone much worse.

Months after he helped the Eels reach the grand final, Mahoney was public enemy number one on Sunday afternoon as the home fans booed him every time he touched the ball in the opening exchanges.

The boos were replaced by cheers from the Parramatta faithful after Mahoney made a couple of errors and gave away four penalties, including one for pushing Moses long after he’d kicked the ball.

With Martin Gabor, NCA Newswire