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Cameron Ciraldo is convinced Canterbury aren't far off lodging their first victory of the season as they host Gold Coast, who are also winless, at Belmore Sports Ground.
The Bulldogs coach feels his team have made steady progress in each match, holding unbeaten Cronulla to 6-6 at halftime last round before the Sharks skipped away for a 25-6 victory.
"I saw plenty of good signs last week and in our trials and first game I've been really happy with some of the things that we worked on in the pre-season," Ciraldo said on Friday.
"I've been really happy with our defence, to be 12-6 down at the 68th-minute mark was a really good sign given some of the adversity that we faced.
"But I want to see some things get better this week, especially around our control of possession."
While Ciraldo was eager to get back to the Dogs' spiritual home, it hasn't been a happy hunting ground with the the team only winning two of their past 11 games at Belmore.
The coach dismissed the statistic, sounding satisfied with a 50:50 strike rate there last year.
"We're one from two last year and that's all I'm worried about," he said.
"The past is history, the future is a mystery so we're just worried about tomorrow.
"There's an energy around Belmore that's hard to explain, until you see it and feel it and we love playing here - I don't know if we grow another leg but we definitely feel the crowd support."
Superstar winger Josh Addo-Carr remains sidelined with a shoulder/collarbone injury, despite hopes he could take on the Titans.
Josh Addo-Carr looks to the sideline after suffering an injury against the Eels.
"He wasn't close - he didn't pull up great from training on Tuesday," Ciraldo said.
"He responded really well to treatment last week initially after being injured but tried to train Tuesday and it wasn't great.
"I was really happy with our wingers last week in particular, Connor Tracey in his first game for the club, Blake Wilson and we will need those two guys to do a good job tomorrow."
Gold Coast had the bye last week, licking their wounds after a disappointing 28-4 opening loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons.
They welcome back veteran playmaker Kieran Foran, who was a late withdrawal just before the round-one kick-off with a calf injury.
The Bulldogs coach feels his team have made steady progress in each match, holding unbeaten Cronulla to 6-6 at halftime last round before the Sharks skipped away for a 25-6 victory.
"I saw plenty of good signs last week and in our trials and first game I've been really happy with some of the things that we worked on in the pre-season," Ciraldo said on Friday.
"I've been really happy with our defence, to be 12-6 down at the 68th-minute mark was a really good sign given some of the adversity that we faced.
"But I want to see some things get better this week, especially around our control of possession."
While Ciraldo was eager to get back to the Dogs' spiritual home, it hasn't been a happy hunting ground with the the team only winning two of their past 11 games at Belmore.
The coach dismissed the statistic, sounding satisfied with a 50:50 strike rate there last year.
"We're one from two last year and that's all I'm worried about," he said.
"The past is history, the future is a mystery so we're just worried about tomorrow.
"There's an energy around Belmore that's hard to explain, until you see it and feel it and we love playing here - I don't know if we grow another leg but we definitely feel the crowd support."
Superstar winger Josh Addo-Carr remains sidelined with a shoulder/collarbone injury, despite hopes he could take on the Titans.
Josh Addo-Carr looks to the sideline after suffering an injury against the Eels.
"He wasn't close - he didn't pull up great from training on Tuesday," Ciraldo said.
"He responded really well to treatment last week initially after being injured but tried to train Tuesday and it wasn't great.
"I was really happy with our wingers last week in particular, Connor Tracey in his first game for the club, Blake Wilson and we will need those two guys to do a good job tomorrow."
Gold Coast had the bye last week, licking their wounds after a disappointing 28-4 opening loss to the St George Illawarra Dragons.
They welcome back veteran playmaker Kieran Foran, who was a late withdrawal just before the round-one kick-off with a calf injury.
