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Canterbury’s loss to a depleted Brisbane side has come at a steep cost, with injury concerns, possible suspensions and defensive flaws all mounting at once.

Canterbury's heavy 32,12 loss to a severely understrength Brisbane side has left the Bulldogs with more than just another defeat to digest, with Viliame Kikau's suspected pectoral injury and a looming judiciary headache adding to growing concerns around the club's inconsistent start to the NRL season.

Kikau was forced from the field in the opening half at Suncorp Stadium and did not return, with coach Cameron Ciraldo acknowledging the early signs were not encouraging. The Bulldogs are awaiting scan results, with initial reports suggesting the damaging back-rower could miss between two and six weeks, depending on the severity of the injury.

That alone would sting. The match review committee may yet make things worse.

Sam Hughes, Harry Hayes, Matt Burton and Stephen Crichton were all placed on report in a bruising night for Canterbury. Hughes was cited for a crusher tackle, Hayes was sin-binned for tripping Adam Reynolds, Burton is likely to come under scrutiny for a dangerous tackle on Kotoni Staggs, and Crichton was reported for an attempted trip in the lead-up to Brisbane's late try.

For Brisbane, the result was remarkable given the scale of their absences. Michael Maguire's side were missing 12 players but looked anything but depleted, producing one of their sharpest displays of the season. Ben Talty and Jack Gosiewski stood tall through the middle, Hayze Perham impressed against his former club, and Xavier Willison capped an influential performance with a late try.

Kotoni Staggs was immense in defence and attack, strengthening calls for State of Origin selection, while Ezra Mam again pressed his case with a standout display that included a superb try. Deine Mariner also crossed in style as Brisbane ran away with the contest.

Canterbury's fourth loss in seven matches leaves them outside the top eight, a sharp contrast to their upset win over Penrith only a fortnight ago. Their defence remains the clearest issue. The Bulldogs are conceding 23.7 points per game this season, up from 17.2 last year, and Ciraldo admitted costly individual lapses continue to undo strong passages of team defence.

At Canterbury, the problems are beginning to stack up quickly. So are the questions.