Canterbury fans, can you handle the truth?
Your team, by general manager Phil Gould’s own admission, has been the worst in the NRL this year.
They are trying to turn the team’s culture around after a woeful campaign which will be put out of its misery on Sunday afternoon on the Gold Coast.
More than a few players, not just the one who walked out on the club after he was subjected to “shark bait” wrestling punishment for being late to training last month, will be jettisoned as coach Cameron Ciraldo tries to instil a hard edge to the club which became famous for its mongrel pedigree.
First of all, the club, the NRL and Rugby League Players Association need to do all they can to protect and help the mental health of the player involved.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo. (Photo by Matt King/Getty Images)
This time of year is a high-stress period for players on the fringe of first grade who don’t know if they’ll have a job next season, whether they have a contract for 2024 or not.
It can lead to the worst of consequences among young players in particular.
Former Bulldogs skipper James Graham’s theory that being a player in a professional rugby league team is akin to being a soldier in the army is spot on.
The pressure on players is enormous and there is an overwhelming expectation that they fall in line to adhere to whatever standards are set by the club.
Footy teams use words like “honour,” “code,” “loyalty.” They use those words as the backbone of a career spent defending something, not as a punch line.
Coaches have neither the time nor the inclination to explain themselves to anyone who doesn’t rise and sleep under the blanket of the inner sanctum or those who question the manner in which they provide it.
They would rather that outsiders just said “thank you” and went on their way. They don’t give a damn what critics think they’re entitled to say.
Their inner sanctum is a tough place where only the strongest survive and anyone who thinks otherwise, can’t handle the truth.
With apologies to Colonel (retired) Nathan R Jessop, wherever he may be, the climactic speech from A Few Good Men pretty much sums up the state of play, what’s right and wrong, at Canterbury.
And while the 15th-placed Bulldogs are in the spotlight because they’re losing and there has been a dramatic incident which has dominated the news cycle this week, this kind of retribution for indiscretions happens frequently in the NRL.
Not that it makes it right, but you’d be hard pressed to find an NRL club that doesn’t have an attitude of punishing those who step out of line while also testing players to their physical and mental limit on the training field.
It’s their way of building up the trust that is required on the playing field of knowing a teammate is going to keep giving it their all even when they think they have used every ounce of fuel in their tank.
Going back generations it’s a common refrain among old players how they were pushed to the brink when first brought into the senior squad for pre-season training.
They tell tales of how their veteran teammates or their drill sergeant trainer would literally make them vomit by pushing them to a physical limit they didn’t think they were capable of reaching.
(Photo by Jenny Evans/Getty Images)
And then make them train some more, so they know they are never fully spent and can always make that extra tackle, hit-up or whatever is needed in the hurly-burly of the playing arena when the chips are down.
The Bulldogs believe they have a soft underbelly and many of their fans will be thankful that the off-field staff are not compromising on standards.
But they would like to see some results rather than constantly hear excuses about the previous administration or a continuation of the blame directed at the past few coaches.
At some point they’ve got to be accountable. Just like they are demanding from their players.
After all the lavish spending on recruits over the past few years, the Dogs are now banking on the arrival of Panthers star Stephen Crichton next year to give them the attacking fullback every team needs.
With Toby Sexton a reliable option at halfback alongside Matt Burton at five-eighth and Reed Mahoney tackling everything that moves at hooker, they potentially have a potent spine.
Whether they have enough class in the rest of their squad is very much up in the air. Penrith’s Jaeman Salmon, ex-Sharks centre Bronson Xerri and Souths utility Blake Taaffe are their only other signings of note for next year so to get up the ladder, they’re going to be relying largely on existing talent improving.
Josh Addo-Carr looks continually frustrated on the wing and the early signs are there that The Foxx may not retain his electrifying pace as he enters the veteran class.
(Photo by Ian Hitchcock/Getty Images)
At 28 he is hardly in the twilight of his career but wingers who rely on blinding pace can have a steep decline once they lose that ability to burn past rivals.
Letting local junior Jake Averillo go to the Dolphins next year while bringing Xerri in to replace him at centre is a gamble to say the least.
Xerri was impressive in his one NRL season for Cronulla in 2019 but after four years out due to his performance-enhancing drugs ban, there is no guarantee that he will be effective. At a minimum it’s going to take a few months before he’s anywhere near the player he was or promised to be.
After the Des Hasler era ended in tears and then the club cycled through the Dean Pay and Trent Barrett experiments, the Bulldogs can’t afford to continue treading water with Ciraldo at the helm.
He’s now had a season to establish the standards, reshape the roster, build a culture and whichever other buzzwords you care to name.
Time will tell next year whether this late-season upheaval is a watershed moment which proves to be a turning point for Canterbury or yet another spin in their cycle of mediocrity.
