WHAT EXPERTS SAID<\/p>\nOn where they will improve<\/p>\n
Braith Anasta: The Dogs will improve again, every year they will get better. Leo Thompson is a great addition because they lack a bit of punch in the forwards. <\/p>\n
On the halves situation<\/p>\n
Braith Anasta: The big one is the halves. They come into this season now still with a huge question mark over who plays six and seven. I think it\u2019s a huge question mark over them, they are unsure. You\u2019ve got Mitchell Woods waiting in the wings, is (Lachlan) Galvin a seven or not? Do they keep (Matt) Burton at six? This is all going to unfold again, this story is going to be big and it\u2019s not going anywhere. The first month of the year whether Bulldogs fans like it or not… it\u2019s going to be high pressure and all eyes will be on Galvin, all eyes will be on Burton. They are either going to go great and if they do go great they can win a comp, or they are going to be having to change it all around again and there\u2019s going to be pressure on.<\/p>\n
THE BIG BREAKDOWN \u2014 BY TOM SARGEANT<\/p>\n
STRENGTH<\/p>\n
Defence. The Bulldogs built their early-season success on their ability to keep their opponents out, and they ended the year with the least amount of points conceded with only 414 or 17.25 per game in the regular season. It\u2019s an impressive effort, considering how long it took for Cameron Ciraldo\u2019s system to embed into the Bulldogs. But now it has, their defence is well and truly their strength. Canterbury kept their opponents to 10 points or less nine times during the regular season, but when it came to finals time they became leaky. Going out in straight sets, the Storm piled on 26 points and the Panthers 46 points to end the Bulldogs\u2019 season. So if Ciraldo\u2019s side want to make a deep finals runs, their defence in crucial games needs to improve.<\/p>\n
Stephen Crichton has made the Bulldogs a defensive juggernaut.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
WEAKNESS<\/p>\n
Attack. While their defence was strong, the Bulldogs seriously struggled to score points to close out the season. The halves pairing of Matt Burton and Lachlan Galvin failed to fully fire, meaning their attacking output suffered. Canterbury had the lowest points scored in the fop four (534) by a staggering margin of 120 to their nearest rival in the minor premiership-winning Raiders. They also scored than the Cowboys, Sea Eagles and Dolphins \u2014 who all missed the top eight in 2025. With a pre-season under their belt, it\u2019s almost certain Burton and Galvin will improve as a halves pairing. Ciraldo will be desperately hoping his halves can given a star-studded backline the time and space needed to score points. The likes of Jacob Kiraz, Stephen Crichton and Bronson Xerri are seriously dangerous players, but without being put in strong positions, they are unable to fire.<\/p>\n
Lachlan Galvin struggled to spark the Bulldogs\u2019 attack last year.Source: Getty Images<\/p>\n
IT\u2019S A BIG YEAR FOR<\/p>\n
Leo Thompson. The Bulldogs\u2019 marquee signing had a quiet year at the Knights in 2025 by his own impressive standards. He played 16 games and battled with niggling injuries after signing a four-year deal to become the leader of Canterbury\u2019s forward pack. However, there\u2019s no doubting Thompson\u2019s quality and the Kiwi international is one of the best front rowers in the game when firing. The Bulldogs handed their marquee forward a mammoth deal worth north of $800,000 per-season, being seen as one of the missing pieces in their premiership puzzle. The Bulldogs have lacked punch in the front row in recent seasons, and Thompson was signed to solve that problem, as well as being a key leader with a hard edge. Rumours began swirling ahead of Round 1 that Thompson had suffered a pre-season injury, but Phil Gould took to X to assure Canterbury fans that was not the case. \u201cHe\u2019s been in an individual training program since he arrived at our club, simply because he needed specialised physical development,\u201d he wrote. \u201cWe\u2019ve taken our time to get him ready. He\u2019s here for four years, not four months\u2026 Leo has worked really hard. Very professional, he looks super.\u201d<\/p>\n
WHO\u2019S UNDER PRESSURE<\/p>\n
Lachlan Galvin. Galvin has not even reached 50 matches yet, but that hasn\u2019t stopped the talented youngster from being one of the most talked-about players in the competition. But while he had glimpses of brilliance at the Bulldogs, in particular his first few games, he struggled to perform at the back end of the season with many calling for him to be dropped in favour of Toby Sexton. Galvin joined the club midway through the season and never really found his groove as Dan Ginnane noted. \u201cIt felt like with Galvin last season at the Dogs, he was still searching how he fit into the team,\u201d Ginnane said on the Kayo Sports NRL podcast. Premiership winning Bulldog Braith Anasta says an entire pre-season with the club will make the world of difference but believes there\u2019s one burning question. \u201cIt\u2019s about a full pre-season at No. 7. There\u2019s no question mark over his ability but is he a six or seven?\u2019 Anasta said. \u201cHis short kicking game is really good, but his long kicking game needs work.\u201d<\/p>\n
Lachlan Galvin needs to improve his kicking game.Source: Instagram<\/p>\n
THE RISING STAR<\/p>\n
Mitchell Woods. While this young gun won\u2019t feature in the trials due to a fresh hamstring injury, Woods is certainly one to watch this season. The talented playmaker is regarded the club\u2019s next halfback, and his emergence has already created headaches for the Bulldogs. Pressure when it comes to selections is only a good thing for any team, and the fact Woods is even being considered a candidate to start is a positive. Many consider it a matter of when, not if the prodigy will make his NRL debut this season after playing nine NSW Cup games in 2025 and impressing. In all of those appearances he started in the halves, scoring four tries at halfback and five-eighth. Ciraldo was full of praise for Woods, who he described as \u201che most professional 19-year-old that I have ever encountered\u201d. \u201cWhen he does get his opportunity in first grade, we\u2019ll be really excited about that,\u201d he said on SEN. \u201cI don\u2019t think we are taking a long-term approach with him. He had a couple of injuries last year which set him back a little bit. \u201cOur approach is that when he\u2019s ready, he\u2019ll be ready.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mitchell Woods has been earmarked as the Bulldogs\u2019 long-term No.7.Source: Supplied<\/p>\n
PREDICTED FINISH: 7th<\/p>\n
BEST 17<\/p>\n
1. Connor Tracey<\/p>\n
2. Marcelo Montoya<\/p>\n
3. Bronson Xerri<\/p>\n
4. Stephen Crichton<\/p>\n
5. Jacob Kiraz<\/p>\n
6. Matt Burton<\/p>\n
7. Lachlan Galvin<\/p>\n
8. Max King<\/p>\n
9. Bailey Hayward<\/p>\n
10. Leo Thompson<\/p>\n
11. Viliame Kikau<\/p>\n
12. Jacob Preston<\/p>\n
13. Jaeman Salmon<\/p>\n
14. Kurt Mann<\/p>\n
15. Josh Curran<\/p>\n
16. Sitili Tupouniua<\/p>\n
17. Harry Hayes<\/p>\n
FULL SQUAD<\/p>\n
Top 30: Bailey Hayward (2028), Bronson Xerri (2027), Connor Tracey (2026), Daniel Sulka-Fifita (2026), Enari Tuala (2026), Harry Hayes (2029), Jack Todd (2026), Jacob Kiraz (2028), Jacob Preston (2027), Jaeman Salmon (2027), Kade Dykes (2026), Lachlan Galvin (2028), Viliame Kikau (2026), Josh Curran (2026), Kurt Mann (2026), Marcelo Montoya (2026), Leo Thompson (2029), Matt Burton (2027), Max King (2027), Mitchell Woods (2027), Sam Hughes (2026), Sean O\u2019Sullivan (2026), Sitili Tupouniua (2028), Stephen Crichton (2031), Zyon Maiu\u2019u (2026), Finau Latu (2028)<\/p>\n
Development players: Fletcher Baker (2026), Jack Underhill (2027), Jethro Rinakama (2027), Lipoi Hopoi (2026), Logan Spinks (2027), Sosai Alatini (2026), Gordon Chan Kum Tong (2027)<\/p>\n
2026 gains: Leo Thompson (Knights), Kade Dykes (Sharks), Sean O\u2019Sullivan (Dolphins), Fletcher Baker (Broncos), Gordon Chan Kum Tong (Sea Eagles)<\/p>\n
2026 losses: Toby Sexton (Catalans), Reed Mahoney (Cowboys), Blake Taaffe (Castleford), Kurtis Morrin (Titans), Blake Wilson (Sea Eagles)<\/p>\n
Coach: Cameron Ciraldo (2031) <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Phil Gould and Cameron Ciraldo have spent the last two years quietly building an army. In 2026, they…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":454248,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[568],"tags":[64,63,4530,79831,4409,87396,217437,7618,168668,62845,4547,224256,217318,122332,4555,4592,4577,4744,4470,4617,4419,4746,3502,761,762,158,230193,16205,122369,4523,199190,85,4546,4440],"class_list":["post-454247","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-nrl","tag-au","tag-australia","tag-bailey-hayward","tag-blake-taaffe","tag-blake-wilson","tag-bronson-xerri","tag-call-leaves-casualty","tag-cameron-ciraldo","tag-development-players","tag-fletcher-baker","tag-gordon-chan-kum","tag-hangover-risk","tag-ideal-bench-utility","tag-jack-todd","tag-jacob-kiraz","tag-jacob-preston","tag-josh-curran","tag-kicking-game","tag-kurt-mann","tag-lachlan-galvin","tag-leo-thompson","tag-mark-st-john","tag-max-king","tag-national-rugby-league","tag-nationalrugbyleague","tag-nrl","tag-pressure-stars","tag-rule-changes","tag-sam-hughes","tag-sea-eagles","tag-season-preview","tag-sports","tag-stephen-crichton","tag-toby-sexton"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454247","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=454247"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/454247\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/454248"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=454247"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=454247"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=454247"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}
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