By Dan Walsh
Bulldogs skipper Stephen Crichton shapes as a left-field halves replacement for Matt Burton after he and marquee back-rower Viliame Kikau went down injured in a sweltering and sweaty 40-24 dismantling of the Gold Coast at Belmore Oval.
Burton went down with a suspected torn medial cruciate ligament – typically a 4-6 week injury – midway through an otherwise dominant first half for the Bulldogs where they raced to a 22-0 lead.
Kikau didn’t get up from a 74th-minute tackle on Moeaki Fotuaika and had to be helped off amid fears of medial ligament damage as well, taking the shine off Canterbury’s first 2-0 start to a season since 2016 when Des Hasler was coaching at the famous club.
Crichton moved from centre – where he is regarded as the best in the NRL – into the halves alongside Toby Sexton, before switching back when the Titans scored a couple of tries targeting the right edge where he had been defending.
Cameron Ciraldo has options, including Drew Hutchison, Bailey Haywood and Joseph O’Neill, to fill in at five-eighth in next week’s local derby with the winless Eels, but said Crichton had spent plenty of the summer switching into the halves as a contingency.
“Over the pre-season we got to dig a bit deeper and put people into different positions,” Ciraldo said.
“Critter [Crichton] going into the halves was one of those during the pre-season so he’s had a lot of reps there.
“He went there for a period tonight ... but we looked a bit shaky on the right edge and I had to put him back out there to solve the problem. He might get a chance at that position in the near future.”
Canterbury are already expecting to be without Burton and Kikau for games against Parramatta, Cronulla and Newcastle before a bye in round six.
With the mercury pushing 35 degrees at kick-off, the Bulldogs took just one set to get into their groove while the Gold Coast floundered and Hasler left million-dollar forward David Fifita on the bench for 48 minutes.
The blue and white faithful at Belmore.Credit: Getty Images
A sold-out crowd of 17,892 was in full voice as Canterbury’s dominance started with defence and the Titans being driven backwards in the opening few tackles of the game.
The locals were louder still when Reed Mahoney charged down a desperate clearing kick at the end of the set. They were singing in the stands by the time some quick hands down the left put Marcelo Montoya over in the corner.
The Bulldogs raced the clock with a 22-0 lead in as many minutes. Soft tries to Jaeman Salmon and Josh Curran were matched by an offloading, swerving, swinging team try to Mahoney.
Burton’s knee injury, coming when he was caught awkwardly in a tackle on Jojo Fifita, briefly took the wind out of both Canterbury and the crowd.
The Gold Coast quickly seized upon the backline upheaval to run in a pair of tries to Alofiana Khan-Pereira.
Matt Burton is helped off the field at Belmore Oval.Credit: Getty Images
But after going to the break leading 22-12, the Bulldogs took less than a minute to strike again as Khan-Periera fumbled his first touch of the second half and Jacob Preston capitalised.
Tries were traded throughout the second stanza and Fifita finally saw action, but the Titans never truly threatened a comeback to rain on Canterbury’s Belmore homecoming.
“At that stage it was a matter of getting him into the game with the interchanges,” Hasler said, lamenting the Titans early defensive lapses and handling errors.
“He came on and provided impact but when you’re chasing points it’s not always going to be easy. Also he’s coming off a disrupted off-season so he’ll get better.”
Aside from Burton and Kikau, the Bulldogs will be watching Monday’s charge sheet after Mahoney (contact on the kicker) and Montoya (shoulder charge) were placed on report ahead of next Sunday’s Eels clash.
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