Ciraldo has copped flak for months regarding the shake-up he’s made to the Bulldogs’ spine and overall tactics once Lachlan Galvin made the mid-season swap.
He stuck to his guns, thinking what he envisioned would ultimately come to fruition, but unfortunately, the side that was sitting first on the ladder for half the season shit the bed and is now on the verge of going out in straight sets.
All the blame has to sit with the coach. Thankfully for him, he still has a week to salvage what could be a year the Dogs are lifting that trophy on the first weekend of October.
It took all of a few minutes for Toby Sexton to prove that while he’s obviously not the long-term option at the club, he still should have been there steering the team around while they were flying.
FIRST TOUCH 🤯 pic.twitter.com/Caw2QVTyE7
— Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs (@NRL_Bulldogs) September 12, 2025
Lachlan Galvin has copped lots of criticism for his performances, but I don’t blame him — I blame Ciraldo for chucking a young, running five-eighth into the 7 jersey at a new club. He is not a halfback. He may well become one, but to expect him to lead this Dogs side through September after a few months in a new side and in an unfamiliar role is genuine insanity.
I’m also perplexed at the decision to drop Reed Mahoney entirely from the side in favour of Bailey Hayward, who was playing that #14 role off the bench so well.
Anyone who doesn’t think Mahoney is the best hooker at that club right now has rocks in their head. Hayward missing 15 tackles last night is simply not good enough. I know not all missed tackles are equal, and there may be a few that don’t really count — but that’s not NRL standard.
The Bulldogs looked the best they’ve looked in months with Sexton at halfback, Galvin at five-eighth, and Burton at centre. Who would have thought playing players in their actual positions would be beneficial to the side? He needs to put Mahoney back to hooker and Hayward back to the bench.
They’ll be playing at home next week in front of what should be close to 80,000 fans in a very winnable game against either the Panthers or Warriors. But they need to go away from what hasn’t worked for two months, or they’ll be looking at flights to Bali for a post-season holiday in a week.
