Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo labelled any excuses for his team’s defensive struggles “would be bulls**t” following the club’s fifth straight loss.

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The Bulldogs were soundly beaten 38-16 by the Sharks to open up Magic Round at Suncorp Stadium.

The Dogs have been renowned for their defensive prowess since Ciraldo arrived at the club, but this season, that aspect of their game has declined sharply.

On Friday night, the Bulldogs conceded five tries in the first 35 minutes. While the Sharks looked sharp, there were two or three tries that simply should not have been allowed thanks to some major defensive lapses.

It was a far cry from the team who conceded just 17 points per game last year.

Ciraldo was asked to explain some of those effort from his side, but he couldn’t.

“I can’t, it’s hard to explain,” Ciraldo said bluntly.

“There were some very ugly moments, but I think the possession was like 65-35 against us at that time.

“If I want to make an excuse, maybe it was fatigue, but it’d be bulls**t anyway. We need to do better.

“The reality is, defence is all about attitude, and we’re very good for long periods defensively, and then we take a moment off, or we have an individual take a moment off, and it’s hurting.

”There was a lot we were doing right in the first half. It sounds silly when you let in 30 points, but the stats were really even. Run meters, line breaks, tackle breaks.

“Kick diffusal though was just way off where it needed to be. That gave the Sharks possession and field position.

“They’ve been a good team at that sort of stuff for a long time and we made it hard on ourselves.”

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Captain Stephen Crichton echoed his coach’s sentiments but feels the Bulldogs need to adjust to the increased pace of the game, with some lazy moments being punished.

“We’re training really well and practice those scenarios at training, but like coach said, when you think that the ball’s not going to come, you try and take a play off,” Crichton said.

“The game’s really fast now, and little moments like that just come back to bite you, so you’ve just got to get back to training, work hard and get better.”

This was Crichton’s last chance to stake his claim for a spot in Laurie Daley’s Blues backline for Game I, with Origin teams announced on Monday.

At the start of the season, he would’ve been unbackable odds to retain his spot, but it just hasn’t been his year so far and it’s being reported he is just behind Kotoni Staggs in the race for the NSW right centre position.

Despite the loss, Crichton did his chances no harm, scoring a try, running for 136 metres and recording six tackle busts.

“I haven’t really spoken to him (Daley) or haven’t really thought of it,” Crichton said.

“I’ve just been thinking about my performances with the Dogs, and like we always say, you perform well at club land, you get those calls.”

Bulldogs suffer 5th straight loss | 01:35

Next up, the Bulldogs will face the Storm, who will likely be without Harry Grant and Cam Munster.

Ciraldo believes being back at home will boost his side significantly, calling on the club’s passionate fan base to head out to Accor Stadium next Friday night.

We’ve had a lot of travel. We’ve been in Vegas, Canberra. We’ve travelled to Brisbane three times in four weeks. Agains, that is no excuse, but we’re pretty keen to get back home next week and play in front of our home fans.

“I think the boys have given our fans a lot to cheer about over the last two years, and we need some energy from our fans next week at Accor Stadium.

“The boys are trying, they’re preparing their arses off. I’s not happening on the field right now, but it’d be great to get a big crowd there and support the boys and give them some energy next Friday night.”