No sprays from coach Ciraldo ahead of Penrith clash

Jasper Bruce | July 22, 2023

Coach Cameron Ciraldo has resisted temptation to fire up at out-of-form Canterbury, opting instead to try and rekindle a love affair with defence at the Bulldogs.

Ciraldo was the architect of Penrith’s dual premiership-winning defence prior to arriving at the Bulldogs this season, but the same system has not worked for Canterbury as yet.

The Bulldogs have leaked 190 points across their last four games, only 28 fewer than Sunday’s opponents Penrith conceded all season.

Canterbury have found it particularly difficult to stop tries from close range and in the middle of the park, areas that were again cause for concern in last week’s 44-24 loss to understrength Brisbane.

They cannot afford a repeat when they meet the Panthers, who welcome back their State of Origin players and Nathan Cleary, and whose middle forwards are among the most ruthless in the competition.

But Ciraldo is prepared to remain patient with the young Bulldogs and will not turn up the volume to get his message across.

“Spraying people isn’t going to help our situation right now,” he said.

“It’s about trying to help our team become better, about trying to help individuals become better every day. 

“With that sometimes it does get frustrating but if you put yourself in their shoes, what do they need to get better and what does our team need to get better?

“A lot of the time spraying is not going to help.”

Key Bulldogs Viliame Kikau and Josh Addo-Carr are both chances to return from respective pectoral and hamstring injuries against the Panthers, pending final fitness tests.

Ciraldo was confident the Bulldogs would eventually take to the defensive tools and tricks he administered at Penrith.

“This weekend, it’s system against system,” he said.

“It’s the same system but there’s a group there that’s been doing it longer and has learned to love defence. 

“That’s where our group needs to get to, they need to learn to love defence. Once they get that, those sorts of system errors take care of themselves. We’re on a journey to get to that point.”

Sunday marks Ciraldo’s first match against the Panthers since leaving his long-term position as an assistant and taking on his first head-coaching appointment.

He became a favourite of the Penrith playing group during his time there and remains good friends with Panthers coach Ivan Cleary. 

“I’ll be forever grateful for what that club did to me and the people within that club, but tomorrow we’ve got a job to do,” he said.