NRL dual premiership winner James Maloney has taken aim at the Bulldogs, declaring they are getting it all wrong in 2026. The Bulldogs scraped an unconvincing 14-12 victory over an injury-ravaged Eels side on Monday afternoon, securing their fifth win of the season in what was one of the stinkers of the year. After back-to-back finals appearances, including a top-four finish last year, Canterbury have failed to live up to expectations.
Maloney's brutal assessment
Maloney believes part of the problem is the stubbornness to play Lachlan Galvin out of position, but he says there are far bigger issues at the club than the young half. "I don't think in a perfect world he's a halfback. At the moment, he is playing there because they are obviously not happy with the job Sean O'Sullivan is doing," Maloney said on news.com.au's Extended Bench. "I think they're trying to work with him on that, but he's definitely not. I think he's more of a five-eighth or a lock."
Attacking structure a bigger concern
Maloney says while Galvin is clearly struggling in the No. 7 jersey, a bigger concern is the team's attacking structure. "But it's not just Galvin. I think there is enough talent across that footy side that you can structure that attack so they score a lot more points than they are," Maloney said. "They look better when they play with punch through the middle, but at the moment they are much more sideways. As an attack, that should be how you play. Get small groups, small shapes and find one-on-ones to give you ruck speed and go again. From there you're on the front foot and can play, but they just go to their edges too quickly. All the good sides now play direct and play through the middle. They are a threat at the ruck. As the play the balls get quicker, you can get in behind the ruck and from there you can compress the defense. Then you can move the ball from there. So I think it's a pretty simple blueprint for how the game needs to be played."
Canterbury's attack has dropped from averaging over 22 points per game in 2025 to less than 18 in 2026. They have only scored 30 points or more on two occasions this season. Despite this, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has stuck with Lachlan Galvin and Matt Burton in the halves.
Call for change
Maloney's 2016 premiership-winning halves partner Chad Townsend has called for Ciraldo to give O'Sullivan a chance and end the Galvin halfback experiment. "I want to see what a different spine looks like just to have some different personnel," Townsend said on SEN on Tuesday. "They have Sean O'Sullivan on the bench who can do a job. I saw Alex Conti in the NSW Cup, and he was outstanding. Ciraldo just doesn't look like he's prepared to make any tweaks to the spine. If you're a Dogs fan, this is the way they seem to be going and think they can make a run with the personnel they have at the moment. Their attack is just so clunky."
The Bulldogs have two weeks to sort out their attacking deficiencies before they host an in-form Manly side in Round 16. You can watch full episodes of Extended Bench on YouTube or listen on Apple, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
