Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo resists panic despite loss to Knights, backs Burton-Galvin halves pairing

Lachlan Galvin may be guilty of trying to do too much for the Bulldogs.

With an average of 78.7 touches a game, Galvin is handling the ball more than some hookers in the NRL, while his average of 21 runs a game is more than any other No.7 in the competition.

But that’s the way coach Cameron Ciraldo would rather have it as Canterbury try to invigorate an attack that struggled to fire against the Knights last weekend for their Good Friday clash with South Sydney.

Bulldogs No.7 Lachlan Galvin is touching the ball more times a game than any other half in the NRL.Getty Images

“Last week we had 60 per cent of possession against us in the first half, and our team was looking for a bit of energy,” Ciraldo said of Canterbury’s first defeat of the season.

“And Lachie, because he’s so fit, decided to try and give us a bit of a thrust, and give us some energy there. And that’s awesome. From a team-first perspective, that’s awesome.

“Is there stuff we need to do better? Yeah, and we’re all working on that.”

With an average of 15 points a game, the Bulldogs have the worst attack in the competition, however, they do have the second-best defence, behind Penrith.

Ciraldo was critical of his team’s ability to capitalise on line breaks and opportunities following their loss to Newcastle, but said it isn’t panic stations yet at Belmore.

“There’s a bit in our attack that I really like,” Ciraldo said.

“We’ve won the possession every week, we’ve made the most metres every week, we’ve also made the most line breaks in each game every week. They’re all really good signs. We haven’t been able to execute every opportunity, and we’ve played against some teams that have scrambled really well.

“We’re trying to show our guys what we’re doing well and where we can improve, and that process doesn’t change whether we win, lose, anything. We’re just trying to get better every week.”

With the game in the balance after half-time, Ciraldo shifted five-eighth Matt Burton to left centre and captain Stephen Crichton into the halves to try to spark his attack.

Ciraldo didn’t rule out a permanent move for Crichton further down the track, but said the club was standing by its halves pairing of Burton and Galvin.

Lachlan Galvin is tackled by the Knights last weekend after one of his 28 runs in the game. Getty Images

“We’ve won two games, we’ve lost one, so I don’t think there’s any need for panic stations,” Ciraldo said.

“A lot got made of ‘Critta’ [Crichton] moving in a little bit last week. Burto took a bump, needed a little rest out wide, Critta came in and got involved and got the ball in his hands, and we scored two tries pretty quickly after that. I’m not sure of all the hysteria around that. There are a lot of things we’re doing well.”

Exiled centre Bronson Xerri has the opportunity to return to the top grade this week after Ciraldo named him in the No.19 jersey and said he was happy with his attitude change after being swapped to right centre.

Meanwhile, Harry Hayes will be rested for another week as he comes back from a concussion suffered in round two against Canberra, which opens the door for young back-rower Logan Spinks to potentially make his NRL debut.