The Bulldogs suffered another heavy loss on Sunday and as the horror 2023 campaign draws to a close, one rugby league legend says their coach isn’t copping the criticism he deserves.
When hired by the Dogs, Ciraldo was heralded as a rising star in the coaching ranks and a “defensive messiah”, but in his first season in charge has been full of disappointment.
Gorden Tallis compared Ciraldo to fellow rookie coach Andrew Webster, who has his surprise packet Warriors third on the ladder.
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“Can I ask why he (Ciraldo) is in cotton wool when you got Andrew Webster who has gone to the Warriors, and you would have thought the Dogs would have finished higher than them,” Tallis said on NRL 360.
“Most NRL fans would have had the Dogs ahead of the Warriors (at the start of the season).”
Journalist Brent Read disagreed with Tallis, believing Ciraldo deserves to be given a bit more time.
“I’m willing to cut Cameron Ciraldo a bit of slack. It’s a bigger job probably than he thought it was,” Read said.
“It’s a bit unfair to judge him. I know they have had a poor year, they’ve been terrible and Cam went there as a defensive messiah and defensively they’ve been horrible.
“You can’t blame the coach for some of the tries (they conceded) yesterday.”
Horrible is an apt description of the Bulldogs defense. They’ve noticeably regressed from last season to this season, despite the addition of Ciraldo and players like Reed Mahoney and Viliame Kikau.
Canterbury rank last this season in points conceded (11th -2022), last in tries conceded (11th), last in missed tackles (9th) and second last in linebreaks conceded (10th).
NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta called out the club’s on-field leaders, stressing they deserve some blame for the poor form.
“They were poor yesterday. I don’t think I’ve seen a softer first three tries than yesterday. That defence there was just terrible,” NRL 360 co-host Braith Anasta said.
“Did you watch yesterday? I looked at the line ups and I thought Newcastle should win this because of the way they are playing at the moment but there is a chance that if the Dogs turn up of causing an upset.
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Bulldogs Press Conference | 05:00
“I’m not going to name names, did you watch their leaders yesterday?
Read interjected: “Well one of those tries, it was Luke Thompson, Matt Burton, Kikau that missed the tackles and they all stood their like stunned mullets.”
“That’s my point. They should be better,” Anasta responded.
“I can see their (Bulldogs) vision it’s just not happening as quick as they would have liked.
“You said you got to cut Ciraldo some slack, I agree. I think he has the potential to be a great coach.”
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The Daily Telegraph’s Phil Rothfield found a couple of other reasons for the Bulldogs lack of success this season.
Rothfield says the Bulldogs are an unhappy club, pointing to the high turnover rate in recent years as a reason for that.
“I’ve been told it’s an unhappy football club. I know they’ve had 67 different players on contract in the last three years so their overturn and churn of players is far greater than any other club in the comp,” Rothfield said.
“Other more stable clubs have 40 maybe, mid-40 turnover in the last three years.
“What I’m saying is that there are a lot of players scared of getting a tap (on the shoulder), and don’t know their futures.
“Their recruitment is all over the shop. You got a pick a 30 man roster. Pick and stick it’s called and get the best out of them.”
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