Cameron Ciraldo insists out-of-sorts Stephen Crichton will finally rediscover his elite best at Magic Round and would be "shocked" if Canterbury's captain missed State of Origin selection.
Ciraldo admitted in retrospect two weeks was not a long enough lay-off for Crichton to completely recover from the grade-five AC joint injury he suffered on Good Friday.
Three-time premiership winner Crichton has appeared hesitant to tackle on his left shoulder in three games since returning for the struggling Bulldogs.
His passing game has also been less prolific on the right edge.
"He definitely came back earlier than we thought he would and probably should've come back," Ciraldo said.
"But that's 'Critta', he's always thinking about the team first and what he can do for the team.
"He's been battling his way through there but he's starting to get back to the confidence that we know he has."
Crichton plays his 150th NRL game against Cronulla on Friday and his last before teams are picked for the Origin series opener.
"The last week or so, he's started to get some good training in," Ciraldo said.
"I'm confident you're going to see the best of him tomorrow."
Queensland would likely come straight for Crichton's troublesome shoulder if the centre was selected for NSW in Origin I, but Ciraldo is comfortable with the captain being in the selection frame.
"He's an Origin player, we knew that when we bought him, that he wouldn't be available at these times of year," Ciraldo said.
Latrell Mitchell is likely to claim one NSW centre spot, while rival centres Kotoni Staggs, Tolu Koula and Casey McLean have all been in better form than Crichton this season.
Ciraldo insisted recent weeks should not turn coach Laurie Daley against one of the NRL's noted big-game players.
"I'd be shocked (if Crichton was overlooked)," Ciraldo said.
"He's been one of NSW's best for the past number of seasons. When it comes to Origin time, you can rely on those sorts of blokes. He knows what it's about."
The 13th-placed Bulldogs are fighting to snap the form slump that threatens to derail their season; an upset defeat of ladder-leading Penrith is Canterbury's only win from their last seven starts.
Ciraldo said the Bulldogs were desperate to right the ship, but that desperation was nothing new.
"We're desperate every week, every NRL team is desperate every week," Ciraldo said.
"What we're trying to do is improve every week. There's been a lot of positives in our game that probably get overlooked because of the scoreboard.
"Then there's some stuff we definitely need to improve as well."
