Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo paid tribute to his players after they toughed out a gritty 13-12 golden point victory over the Sea Eagles in NRL Round 16, their second narrow win in as many matches.
One of the lowest scoring clashes of the 2026 season, Saturday night’s match saw even less points than the Bulldogs last home game, the 14-12 win over the Eels in Round 14.
“It might not have been a pretty win, but that’s our style of game,” Ciraldo declared after the Bulldogs were outscored three tries to two by Manly but still found a way to get the two premiership points.
“I think the boys enjoy those style of games, nice tight contests, and it was awesome to get the result in the end.”
MORE: ‘Touch and go’ – Todd Payten reveals injury status of Cowboys gun
‘Burto was brilliant tonight’ declares Ciraldo after Crichton halves switch
Ciraldo also explained the thinking behind several late pre-game tactical changes that saw captain Stephen Crichton switched to five-eighth with Matt Burton moving into the centres for Bronson Xerri who was an unused reserve.
“At times where we’ve been a bit short in the halves over the last two pre-seasons, Critta’s jumped in there and he’s shown a lot of potential in that position,” Ciraldo said.
“We’ve always had in the back of our minds that it might happen one day… we had the bye last week, so we had a really good opportunity to sit back and chat about how the first half of the season has gone, how individuals have gone.
“The change was more around helping (Matt Burton) find his best and most consistent form… and spoke about maybe we can do that by (him) playing in the centres, just taking a little bit of responsibility off him for a bit and just allow him to just enjoy his footy.
“I thought Burto was brilliant tonight.”
Ciraldo explained the positional switch was intentionally kept in-house, allowing everyone at the club to continue with their preparations without the pressure of external scrutiny.
Despite still managing the ongoing effects of a persistent should injury that ruled him out of State of Origin Game II, Crichton had a powerful game that included taking on a significant amount of the Bulldogs’ kicking responsibilities.
He also scored his side’s first try and slotted the match-wining field goal in golden point.
“I knew he’d handle the game management side of it and the leadership, but he had to also mark Haumole (Olakau’atu) for 80 minutes who was charging off the back fence,” Ciraldo said in praise of his captain.
“To do that on the back of hardly any contact training… is a credit to how tough he is.”
The 11th placed Bulldogs have won their last two matches and next face the Titans on Friday night in NRL Round 17.