Former Canterbury Bulldogs five-eighth and NRL360 host Braith Anasta thinks the ‘Dogs of War’ can rumble again in 2025 despite several other clubs now nipping at their heels.
The Bulldogs were lucky to sneak away with the win against St George Illawarra on the weekend with 20-year-old recruit Lachlan Galvin’s harbour-bridge pass setting up the final minute win.
Anasta, who won a title with the Belmore club in 2004, conceded it was some of Galvin’s bigger name teammates that needed to return to form.
“They’ve got some work to do,” Anasta said on Fox League.
“They can do it.. but if you look at the teams that are in form at the moment, Canberra, even Penrith, Brisbane, Manly, showed form on the weekend.
“There’s a lot of teams that have levelled up with them now in terms of the way they’re playing at the right time of year. I don’t think it’s just all about Galvin. I think there’s other players in that team that’s form has dropped.
“I really do and I think that’s actually impacted the team as well.
“It’s not just about the seven.
“Even their key players…
“Critta [Stephen Crichton] was really good on the weekend, came up with that individual effort for a try, but even his form over the last month has dropped a little bit.
“[Bronson] Xerri’s injured, [Matt] Burton wasn’t great on the weekend.
“They actually need their big guns to stand up again as they had done for the majority of the year.”
