A Tumultuous Performance and Tactical Decisions
Cameron Ciraldo has stood by his decision to deploy Josh Curran at centre following a loss to the struggling Parramatta Eels, which left the Canterbury Bulldogs coach admitting that understanding his team’s inconsistent form might require a psychology degree. A week after a surprising win against the powerful Penrith Panthers, the Bulldogs faced a harsh reality in a 38-20 defeat to the Eels on Sunday.
Ciraldo described the performance as “crap” after his backline suffered two more setbacks. 
Centre Enari Tuala experienced discomfort after Saturday’s captain’s run, while winger Jacob Kiraz limped off with a knee injury during the second half. This forced Curran to step in at centre, despite Jonathan Sua, who eventually replaced Kiraz when the Lebanese flyer went down, being named on the bench. Usually a forward, Curran had a challenging afternoon against the Eels.
“He’s played a fair bit there at the Warriors, played centre a number of times and done a lot there in the preseason,” Ciraldo said. “We just thought considering how late the switch was – Jon Sua has played one game of first grade two years ago – it would have been a bit tough on him to throw him in an unfamiliar position at late notice. Josh has had plenty of reps there to be able to do that job. He didn’t get caught out defensively today.”
Ciraldo is optimistic that captain Stephen Crichton will be cleared to return in the centres against Brisbane next Friday after missing the last fortnight due to a shoulder issue. Crichton is expected to strengthen the Bulldogs’ edge defence, but Ciraldo has urged his players to close the gap between their best and worst performances.
“You’d probably have to get a psychology degree to figure that out,” said Ciraldo, whose side (3-3) finished round seven in 10th spot on the ladder. “Our best is good enough to challenge anyone and our worst is a long way off that. We want to be consistent, we want to be playing close to our best every week, but today was far from it, and we need to figure out why.”
The Bulldogs face a short turnaround before their trip to Brisbane, but the Dogs coach insists this should not be an excuse for not giving their all against the Broncos.
“Who cares how long the turnaround is,” Ciraldo said. “If we turn up with the right mindset, we’ll give ourselves a chance and if we turn up with that crap we’ll get what we deserve.”
