Canterbury’s underperforming players have been brutally called out after damning vision emerged of a lack of effort in Sunday’s 42-24 defeat to Manly. The big loss leaves the Bulldogs languishing in 15th spot on the NRL ladder after a disastrous debut season for coach Cameron Ciraldo.
The rookie coach was fuming with his side after the loss to Manly over what he described as an unacceptable level of standards from his players. Ciraldo’s swipe came as damning footage emerged of several Canterbury players failing to chase an attacking bomb from Matt Burton or putting any kick pressure on Manly’s players, allowing the Sea Eagles to take an easy catch and launch a counter attack.
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The worrying scenes were raised by Ciraldo in his post-match press conference, where the coach pulled no punches in his assessment of Canterbury’s players. “Every NRL game you play is a privilege to play. If I get any smell of it that someone isn’t up for the game, I’ll find someone who is,” Ciraldo said before addressing the play in question.
Speaking about the alarming vision on NRL 360 on Monday night, host and Canterbury premiership winner Braith Anasta accused Bulldogs players of “cutting corners”. In a scathing swipe at several big-name stars at his former club, Anasta echoed the thoughts of Ciraldo by suggesting there was a massive attitude problem at the club and the standards being set were simply not good enough.
