djdeep4172
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They’ve poached plenty of Panthers stars and even Phil Gould, but the reason why the Bulldogs are dominating in 2025 is down to one man and his defensive plan.
There are plenty of similarities between what the Bulldogs are doing now and how the Panthers started their incredible run of four premierships, but the one man linking it all is head coach Cameron Ciraldo who deserves all the credit for shaping two of the best defensive systems we’ve seen in the modern era.
It’s easy to look at a team list and see names like Stephen Crichton, Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau who all arrived at Belmore with their premiership rings from Penrith.
Then there’s the Phil Gould link, with the top dog coming in and fixing Canterbury’s pathways to the point now where guys can seamlessly come in when Burton and Kikau get injured to ensure that the machine doesn’t slow down.
They are some of the reasons why the boys in blue and white are 5-0, leading the league and enjoying the week off with the bye before their blockbuster battle with the Bunnies on Good Friday.
But the man most responsible for their success this season is Ciraldo, who has been described as the architect of the best defence in the NRL which improved last year but is unrivalled in 2025.
He was the man who came up with the defensive structures at Penrith when they were the most miserly team in the league, and he’s carried that over to the Bulldogs where it’s taken a couple of pre-seasons for his players to fully buy in.
The Bulldogs boast the best defensive record after five rounds with 58 points conceded, including just 14 points in their past three games.
That’s the best start to a season for the club since the 1993 side conceded 40 in the opening five rounds and also started with a 5-0 record.
Canterbury’s smaller pack allows the defensive line to swarm and scramble like no one else, and while it sounds like disorganised chaos, players say it’s a gruelling concept that requires all 13 men to completely buy in.
“I feel like Ciraldo is the main source of that,” Crichton replied when asked whether people were right to compare his team to the Panthers.
“He came up with that defensive system that Penrith have, and they’ve carried that on at the Panthers.
“Ciraldo brought his system to the Dogs and it’s going well. It’s one thing teaching a system, but it’s another thing having the boys buying into it and falling in love with it.
“If you don’t have buy in from the team then it doesn’t work on the weekend.
“We’ve worked really hard on that throughout the pre-season and it’s paying off.”
It’s been a work in progress for Ciraldo who has had to find players who embrace his systems in defence, with the Bulldogs conceding 95 points in the opening five rounds in his first year, and 97 in his second season.
They missed the most tackles in 2023 when he got to the club, but that number has dropped by nine tackles per game this season, with Bronson Xerri becoming a defensive beast in his second year in the system.
“It was a big shock to me when I first came here,” he said.
“I think the key thing is that you buy into it and you believe in it. Once you do that, that’s the start of the process of being a Bulldog.
“Then you start executing it out on the field and it all comes together.
“It’s not easy. It’s based on effort and hard work so it’s good to see that it’s paying off.”
There are plenty of similarities between what the Bulldogs are doing now and how the Panthers started their incredible run of four premierships, but the one man linking it all is head coach Cameron Ciraldo who deserves all the credit for shaping two of the best defensive systems we’ve seen in the modern era.
It’s easy to look at a team list and see names like Stephen Crichton, Matt Burton and Viliame Kikau who all arrived at Belmore with their premiership rings from Penrith.
Then there’s the Phil Gould link, with the top dog coming in and fixing Canterbury’s pathways to the point now where guys can seamlessly come in when Burton and Kikau get injured to ensure that the machine doesn’t slow down.
They are some of the reasons why the boys in blue and white are 5-0, leading the league and enjoying the week off with the bye before their blockbuster battle with the Bunnies on Good Friday.
But the man most responsible for their success this season is Ciraldo, who has been described as the architect of the best defence in the NRL which improved last year but is unrivalled in 2025.
He was the man who came up with the defensive structures at Penrith when they were the most miserly team in the league, and he’s carried that over to the Bulldogs where it’s taken a couple of pre-seasons for his players to fully buy in.
The Bulldogs boast the best defensive record after five rounds with 58 points conceded, including just 14 points in their past three games.
That’s the best start to a season for the club since the 1993 side conceded 40 in the opening five rounds and also started with a 5-0 record.
Canterbury’s smaller pack allows the defensive line to swarm and scramble like no one else, and while it sounds like disorganised chaos, players say it’s a gruelling concept that requires all 13 men to completely buy in.
“I feel like Ciraldo is the main source of that,” Crichton replied when asked whether people were right to compare his team to the Panthers.
“He came up with that defensive system that Penrith have, and they’ve carried that on at the Panthers.
“Ciraldo brought his system to the Dogs and it’s going well. It’s one thing teaching a system, but it’s another thing having the boys buying into it and falling in love with it.
“If you don’t have buy in from the team then it doesn’t work on the weekend.
“We’ve worked really hard on that throughout the pre-season and it’s paying off.”
It’s been a work in progress for Ciraldo who has had to find players who embrace his systems in defence, with the Bulldogs conceding 95 points in the opening five rounds in his first year, and 97 in his second season.
They missed the most tackles in 2023 when he got to the club, but that number has dropped by nine tackles per game this season, with Bronson Xerri becoming a defensive beast in his second year in the system.
“It was a big shock to me when I first came here,” he said.
“I think the key thing is that you buy into it and you believe in it. Once you do that, that’s the start of the process of being a Bulldog.
“Then you start executing it out on the field and it all comes together.
“It’s not easy. It’s based on effort and hard work so it’s good to see that it’s paying off.”
