‘No I wouldn’t change a thing’: Ciraldo defiant despite Bulldogs’ season fade-out

Cameron Ciraldo has no regrets despite the Bulldogs going from first in the competition after 16 rounds to out of the finals in straight sets after a 46-26 thrashing by the Panthers in their semi-final.

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The Bulldogs coach has been criticised for his selection shake-ups since Lachlan Galvin arrived at the club, but he is stoic in the belief he made all the moves in the best interests of the club’s long-term future.

“No I wouldn’t change a thing,” Ciraldo said.

“This is all part of the journey. There’s been some tough times this year. Our guys have had to deal with a lot more scrutiny than probably some other places and the way they’ve stuck together and handled it and just kept building a really strong culture. We’re incredibly proud.

“Our season was weird. We were coming first but we had a couple of byes there that helped us sit in that position.

“We played a lot of top quality opposition the second half of the year. This is the first year our club had to go through Origin period with a lot of players involved in a long time, so that’s another part of our learning.

“And then we had the injuries at different times which didn’t help us as well. I know what the headlines will be, but internally we’re really clear on how this season panned out, what was good, what we need to do better and today’s a massive lesson in that as well.”

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To be fair Galvin was a bright spark in a sorry loss for the Bulldogs at least in attack and Ciraldo stood by his two young playmakers to the bitter end this season.

“We don’t need any vindication or validation of what we’re doing,” Ciraldo said.

“We know what we’re doing and we’re really confident in what we’re doing, but for Lachie to go out there today and attack the game the way he did, I thought he was one of our top players out there.

“I thought Bailey Hayward was one of our top players out there when he got on the field. “And for those two guys in particular to come out and be two of our best on the big stage under the most pressure says a lot about their character in terms of how much crap they had to deal with this week and external opinions.

“Those two guys are tough, tough characters. They’re going to play a massive part in our future.”

The Panthers led 36-8 in the highest scoring first half in finals history and Ciraldo admitted his side got a brutal lesson.

“That first half is a pretty painful lesson for us in the future,” Ciraldo said.

“We ran into a champion team that knows exactly what it takes to win these big games and they were near perfect and we were off the mark there in the first half.

“I think they completed at 100 per cent and we just made a couple errors but we just didn’t have the defensive intensity that was needed and every opportunity they got, they took.

“So that was a nightmare that first half and hard, but these guys I’m just so proud of them throughout the year when they’ve had to face adversity and been in positions like that, that they come out and they never stop fighting, they never give in, they never get torn apart.

“So to come out in the second half and attack the game the way they did, that made me really proud.

Let’s be honest at half-time you’re winning a semi-final 36-8, you have got every right being the Panthers to start thinking about next week and going into self-preservation mode and I totally understand that would have been part of it.

“But in terms of what our guys could control, I thought the way we attacked the second half with and without the ball was awesome. We scored some tries there in the second half but we left a couple out there as well.”

Despite the heavy defeat, Ciraldo was proud of his players for fighting back in the second stanza.

“We had a really clear game plan of what we wanted to do, we just couldn’t do it in the first half,” Ciraldo said.

“They just completed sets and made us come off our own line and that pressure forced us into some errors and they were brilliant.

“But again at half-time, our guys there was a challenge there and that’s embarrassing being in that position in the biggest game of your life and just the way they went about in the second half is something to be really proud of.

“I think our fans should be really proud of the way they have held together this season and the way they’ve gone about it and stuck together and the way they fought in the second half.”

Ciraldo was pressed on his decision to start Reed Mahoney, but dodged the question and focused on his other starting change.

“We just probably felt like we’ve been a middle short all year,” Ciraldo said.

“Sitili’s been one of our best players in his limited amount of games with us and we just thought we had to start fast and go after it and Sitili’s the guy that when you’re in combat, you want him.

“So that was part of the plan but the possession and field position just sort of thwarted that plan.”

Ciraldo warned the Broncos, Storm and Sharks that they will do very well to stop the Panthers five-peating in the next two weeks.

“I don’t have to tell them at half-time, they definitely did,” Ciraldo said.

“They know what it takes to win big games. Champion team, got some champion players in there and they’re going to be very hard to beat.”