For all the planning, 3am wake-ups and heart-to-hearts the great coaches go through, there’s one thing they can’t account for: dumb luck. And Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo must be wondering when it’s his turn to get a bit of it, any at all.
Ciraldo has long been considered the next great NRL coach in waiting, so much so he knocked back a five-year deal from one club only to walk into another for his first top job. Yet, his first year is shaping up as one in which he will never truly understand what type of squad he has to work with.
This week’s injury Lotto brought up No.2. It’s a winger, you might say. But Jacob Kiraz is no ordinary winger, and this is no ordinary season.
The man who carries the ball pretty much more than any other player in the competition not named Lachlan Miller lasted all of 11 minutes on Sunday, a victim of a medial ligament injury in his knee which will see him sitting on the sidelines.
He’ll have company, too. Viliame Kikau (pectoral), Josh Addo-Carr (syndesmosis), Luke Thompson (foot), Fa’amanu Brown (elbow), Franklin Pele (arm) and Chris Patolo (knee) are all long-term casualties for Ciraldo.
Phil Gould calls some of those injuries thunderbolts. But how many times can lightning strike in a single season?
Maika Sivo scores the first of his two tries.Credit: Getty
Predictably, the Bulldogs simply have so much quality on the sideline that no matter how hard they scrap and scramble, they’re unlikely to beat a team like the Eels at the moment.
It took one three-try burst in six first-half minutes to settle this one, with Parramatta’s early season slump a thing of the past after a comfortable 30-4 win at CommBank Stadium.
The Eels won, the Bulldogs learned.
On the plus side, Tevita Pangai jnr (calf) played his first game this year but Ciraldo needs another three of him in the next six weeks if this team is to stay in finals contention.
It was an unhappy homecoming, too, for former grand final hooker Reed Mahoney, who was jeered with every touch by Eels fans in the opening minutes, and needlessly shoved Mitchell Moses late after a kick to take it out his frustration on an old teammate.
Still, he will be available to play next week, unlike Kiraz.
The early Dally M leader fell awkwardly, primarily under Ryan Matterson, in a three-man tackle and took no further part in the match. Jake Averillo (kneecap) soldiered on until full-time.
Ciraldo could have been forgiven for wondering how he would cover the latest reshuffle, first sending centre Paul Alamoti to the opposite wing, and then Jayden Okunbor.
It didn’t really matter what lever he pulled as the Eels hit overdrive, effectively putting the match to bed with a 16-0 half-time lead.
Jacob Kiraz leaves the field with a knee injury.Credit: Getty
First it was Will Penisini off a Matterson offload, then Maika Sivo after Clint Gutherson’s floated pass and finally Mitchell Moses with the pick of the lot, an 80-metre team effort which started with a Shaun Lane offload and finished with the No.7 screaming clear after Penisini’s break.
There’s a reason why the best second-phase team of recent years wants to play more daytime matches.
Ciraldo’s side showed heart, as they have throughout the first seven rounds, and were the first to score in the second half when Alamoti pounced on a Matt Burton kick. But it only delayed the inevitable, which was sealed when Reagan Campbell-Gillard was rewarded for another powerhouse display with a try and Sivo iced the game with a double.
PARRAMATTA EELS 30 (Maika Sivo 2, Will Penisini, Mitchell Moses, Reagan Campbell-Gillard tries; Moses 5 goals) defeated CANTERBURY BULLDOGS 4 (Paul Alamoti try) at CommBank Stadium. Referee: Chris Butler. Crowd: 27,655.
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