Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has explained his confusing decision to play Reed Mahoney off the bench before inserting him into his side’s Panthers clash as a ball-playing forward.
The 25-year-old Canterbury skipper had battled an illness which ravaged the Bulldogs’ squad during the week, with backrower Jacob Preston a late omission.
Ciraldo explained Mahoney insisted on playing and with Flanagan training at dummy-half all week, he kept the former halfback on for 80 minutes.
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“Just the way the game was going, I thought Kyle was going pretty well and that’s the way we trained all week,” Ciraldo said in the post-match press conference.
“Reed was crook all week and didn’t train with us, then the lack of numbers we just needed to find a…