https://www.foxsports.com.au/nrl/nr...d/news-story/3838181b251943175f97954b878fe5c8 …. There’s no sugar-coating it, things haven’t gone to plan at the Bulldogs under Cameron Ciraldo, who arrived as a rookie coach to plenty of fanfare.
General manager Phil Gould’s appointment of Ciraldo ahead of the 2023 season was supposed to turn things around at Belmore, but instead they fell three spots on the ladder this year to finish 15th.
Canterbury, who haven’t played finals since 2016, went backwards in 2023 as their defence fell off a cliff. They went from allowing 23.9 points in 2022 to 32 per game in 2023.
The team that wins the premiership usually concedes less than half of that, typically around 15 points per game, with the Panthers allowing just 13 on average in 2023.
The Bulldogs also underperformed in attack, with stars Matt Burton, Josh Addo-Carr and Viliame Kikau all struggling to fire consistently.
Ciraldo now has another star recruit in Stephen Crichton and a similarly poor campaign in 2024, especially with those names at his disposal, will put the coach under immense pressure.
But for the club to seriously consider sacking Ciraldo for Bennett, they’d likely have to also march Gould whose rivalry with Bennett goes back decades.
The duo squared off as opposing coaches in several heated State of Origin series and Gould has also claimed Bennett reneged on a handshake deal to coach the Roosters in 2007.
