Ciraldo sees improvement with Burton as Bulldogs No.7

Scott Bailey | April 23, 2023

Cameron Ciraldo wants Matt Burton to get his hands on the ball more as Canterbury’s halfback, adamant there are signs the Bulldogs’ attack will improve with him at No.7.

Switched from five-eighth in the lead up to Saturday’s 22-20 loss to Cronulla, Burton endured a tough initiation as an NRL halfback.

The Bulldogs spent the majority of the match playing catch up, after Cronulla scored the opening two tries and maintained the lead from the seventh minute to fulltime.

But coach Ciraldo is positive there were things to like about Burton’s game at No.7, with the 23-year-old told to take ownership of the team’s attack.

Burton ran the ball more than in the previous two losses to South Sydney and Parramatta, and set up a try when he went through the line and put Corey Waddell over.

“We looked good at times, we looked dangerous every time Matt ran the ball and got it in his hands,” Ciraldo said. 

“We’re still a work-in-progress. The spine has played eight games together now and they are still trying to work it out. 

“We are missing some players there that we probably used in the pre-season, that we worked towards to get them the ball in crucial positions.

“But I thought it was an improvement on the past couple of weeks.”

Burton said he had tried to get the ball more against the Sharks, and made a point to insert himself late in the game as the Bulldogs threatened a comeback.

“I tried to stand up there and lead the boys around the park,” Burton said. 

“I just wanted to get the ball in my hands a bit more.

“We just lacked in periods of the game where we could have gone after it. I put my hand up on that, just have to be better for it.”

One of the competition’s most promising teams in the opening rounds, the Bulldogs have felt the pain of injuries in the past three weeks while the likes of hooker Reed Mahoney’s form has dropped off.

They are an outside chance of having Franklin Pele or Fa’amanu Brown back from injury next Sunday against St George Illawarra, while Chris Patola and Luke Thompson will return within the next four weeks.