Canterbury has opened negotiations with Toby Sexton after the unheralded halfback helped steer the club to the top of the NRL ladder.
Sexton remains off contract at the end of the season, despite the Bulldogs opting not to pursue the signature of departing Manly skipper Daly Cherry-Evans. Despite not having halves partner Matt Burton alongside him for the past fortnight, Sexton has capably steered the team alongside fill-in playmaker Bailey Hayward to ensure the blue-and-whites are the only undefeated team in the NRL.
The Bulldogs are coming to a critical juncture in their development; they have outstanding halfback prospect Mitchell Woods on their books, as well as Jersey Flegg-winning halves Joey O’Neill and Cassius Tia.
The club’s decision not to pursue Ben Hunt and Cherry-Evans is a nod to the youngsters coming through, with high hopes held for Woods in particular. However, they don’t want to rush Woods into first grade before his time, while deciding whether they need a bridging player capable of guiding them towards a title in the interim.
However, based on Sexton’s performances and continued development, they have a player they want to keep at Belmore. Which is why they have opened talks with his management to extend his stay beyond 2025.
Toby Sexton is in fine form for the Bulldogs.Credit: Getty
When thrust into first grade as a youngster at the Gold Coast, Sexton admits he struggled to deal with the scrutiny and speculation about his future. But the 24-year-old said he has become better at shutting out off-field distractions, even though his future still remains unresolved.
“I’ve learned a lot,” Sexton said. “I’ve come from a team, when I was first up at the Gold Coast Titans, I had a lot of head noise back then.
“I used to worry a lot about external [issues] and I kind of realised that that doesn’t get me anywhere. I feel like I’ve gotten really good at just worrying about what I can control and it’s taking me a while to get this position, but I feel like I’m feeling better at it each week.”
As soon as Cherry-Evans declared he was a free agent, some pundits urged Canterbury to pursue him. The story died just a few days later after the club pulled out of the race for his signature.
“To be honest, and it’s pretty cliched, I didn’t look at it at all,” Sexton said. “If the club wants to go after him, they can go after him.
“I didn’t look at it once, I never thought of it at all. I just focused on myself and what I can do for the team.
“I feel like we’re building a really good connection to this team and I love playing with them each week and that was no different [against Cronulla].”
Asked if coach Cameron Ciraldo or general manager of football Phil Gould broached the Cherry-Evans situation with him, Sexton said: “No, there was nothing and I didn’t think anything of it.
“That’s up to the club with what they want to do, but I feel like I’ve just got an easy job to focus on and that’s just playing footy on the weekend.”
Sexton said he had matured on and off the field after his Titans experiences.
“It happened over time,” he said. “I kind of realised by the end of my time with the Titans, I was playing first grade and we were losing, I was so worried about what the media was saying and what our fans were saying about me.
“Mentally I was in such a bad state. I feel like I’ve kind of worked out that there’s no point in focusing on it because you can’t control what they’re gonna think and I feel like I’ve come a long way with that.”
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