‘It’s hard to say’: Ciraldo refuses to lock in Bulldogs halves plans, confirms Xerri release talk

Cameron Ciraldo says the Bulldogs’ halves shake-up that paired captain Stephen Crichton with Lachlan Galvin is no guarantee for the long term, despite a promising first showing against Manly.

“Last week was a nice step in the right direction, Manly are a quality opposition, while it wasn’t perfect I was really happy with how brave we played on both sides of the ball,” Ciraldo said ahead of the club’s Round 17 clash with the Titans on the Gold Coast.

Asked whether the changes would become permanent at Belmore, Ciraldo was non-committal.

“It’s hard to say, who knows what will happen over the next few weeks, but we’re really happy with what we saw last week.”

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One thing the Canterbury boss was keen to confirm was that the positional move wasn’t reactionary, revealing Crichton has spent the past two pre-seasons preparing for the shift.

“It wasn’t on a whim,” Ciraldo declared bluntly when asked.

“(Stephen) has been training there for over two years, it’s been in the back of our minds and I think we only saw a glimpse of what he can do last weekend.”

He also revealed both Crichton and Matt Burton, who shifted into the centres, had fully embraced the change as what’s best for the team in a difficult season so far.

“Matt Burton in particular really enjoyed his footy last week, he came off the field smiling and buzzing,” Ciraldo said.

The casualty of course has been Bronson Xerri who was dropped from the starting 13 and has been heavily linked with a release as Melbourne and Parramatta emerge as genuine contenders for his services in 2027.

Ciraldo confirmed the outside back has been granted permission to explore interest from rival clubs despite still being contracted to the Bulldogs next season.

“Bronson is at the stage where he wants to look at what’s best for him, he wants to get out of his comfort zone, and I fully support how he’s doing that,” Ciraldo said.

“That’s all being handled by Gus (Phil Gould) and his manager.”

Ciraldo also confirmed star second rower Jacob Preston will remain sidelined for another fortnight as he continues his recovery from a broken forearm despite being originally named on the extended reserves for the Titans clash.

“He got some training in this week, but he hasn’t crossed the line to be able to play, he’ll be back after the bye.”

‘It’s hard to say’: Ciraldo refuses to lock in Bulldogs halves plans, confirms Xerri release talk

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