Latest news with #Ciraldo
The Age
5 hours ago
- Sport
- The Age
Ciraldo crafted rugby league's best defence. Now, can he pull it apart?
As the minister of defence for the chocolate soldiers, Cameron Ciraldo oversaw Penrith's dynasty-defining defensive line - one of the toughest to crack in rugby league history. He's taken the same system behind four consecutive Panthers premierships to Belmore, drilled it into a mobile and committed side and stuck to script all the while. When asked about a breakout attacking performance from the Bulldogs, their 42-4 shellacking of Manly and Lachlan Galvin's role in said shellacking last Sunday, Ciraldo still turned straight away to his young halfback's defence. Which might just be where Canterbury's attack starts. The clunky offensive efforts might resurface against the Tigers on Sunday, particularly where Galvin is concerned, given the spotlight and pressure on him against the club he walked out on. The man of the moment was a teenager just two weeks ago. But before the Bulldogs rattled up seven tries on the Sea Eagles at Allianz Stadium, they absorbed a physical assault from Matt Lodge, Jazz Tevaga and company. It wasn't quite Penrith-esque, but Manly hit hard and often. And the Bulldogs responded with offloads and second-phase play, just as the few teams who troubled the Panthers during Ciraldo's time did. Canterbury's 10 first-half offloads and a near-perfect first-half (their first mistake didn't come until the 36th minute) took the sting out of Manly as Matt Burton ran straight and often and Galvin played a deft hand.
Sydney Morning Herald
5 hours ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ciraldo crafted rugby league's best defence. Now, can he pull it apart?
As the minister of defence for the chocolate soldiers, Cameron Ciraldo oversaw Penrith's dynasty-defining defensive line - one of the toughest to crack in rugby league history. He's taken the same system behind four consecutive Panthers premierships to Belmore, drilled it into a mobile and committed side and stuck to script all the while. When asked about a breakout attacking performance from the Bulldogs, their 42-4 shellacking of Manly and Lachlan Galvin's role in said shellacking last Sunday, Ciraldo still turned straight away to his young halfback's defence. Which might just be where Canterbury's attack starts. The clunky offensive efforts might resurface against the Tigers on Sunday, particularly where Galvin is concerned, given the spotlight and pressure on him against the club he walked out on. The man of the moment was a teenager just two weeks ago. But before the Bulldogs rattled up seven tries on the Sea Eagles at Allianz Stadium, they absorbed a physical assault from Matt Lodge, Jazz Tevaga and company. It wasn't quite Penrith-esque, but Manly hit hard and often. And the Bulldogs responded with offloads and second-phase play, just as the few teams who troubled the Panthers during Ciraldo's time did. Canterbury's 10 first-half offloads and a near-perfect first-half (their first mistake didn't come until the 36th minute) took the sting out of Manly as Matt Burton ran straight and often and Galvin played a deft hand.
Sydney Morning Herald
4 days ago
- Sport
- Sydney Morning Herald
Ex-winger who was ‘too slow, too big' now a key man up front for Dogs
First he pounced on a Jason Saab fumble and bolted 12 metres to score the opener, then he crashed over from close range after an offload from Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey. Yet Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo was more impressed with the tough carries and 27 tackles Hughes delivered during his 30 minutes than his tryscoring heroics. 'I thought his start to the game was really good, and his second stint,' Ciraldo said. 'He scored two tries and everyone sees that, but the stuff he's doing that front-rowers have to do, I thought he was brilliant at that.' Ciraldo said Hughes, who played all 25 games for Canterbury last season, was getting back to his best after undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the year. 'We missed him at the start of the year,' Ciraldo said. 'He had that syndesmosis injury and missed the first 12 weeks of the season. He was really good for us last year. 'He's just been building towards that. Last week it was hard to leave him out of the team … we wanted him to go back to NSW Cup and play big minutes. He went back and did that and totally deserved to come back into the team.' After the Bulldogs were knocked out in the opening round of the play-offs last year, they are on track for a top-two finish this season, and Hughes is confident they can do some damage in the finals. 'We're a different style of team, I reckon,' he said. 'We're real fit. We base our game [on] defence. You don't get picked in the team unless your defence is pretty good. So, yeah, we're a real defensive team, and I think that's what we'll need in those games.' It's a far cry from Hughes' debut season in 2023, when the Bulldogs won only seven games and finished third last. 'We got smashed [50-16] on my debut by the Bunnies on Anzac Day,' he recalled. 'That was one you don't want to really remember, but it was good, man. It was good to get out there [in the NRL].' Loading Hughes and NSW Origin representative Max King have formed a reliable front-row pairing for the Bulldogs that will be bolstered next season by the recruitment of Kiwi international Leo Thompson from Newcastle on a four-year deal. 'It's great competition,' Hughes said of Thompson's arrival. 'That's what we want. We want to beef up our middle pack. So it's great competition, man. It just pushes you to get better.'
The Age
4 days ago
- Sport
- The Age
Ex-winger who was ‘too slow, too big' now a key man up front for Dogs
First he pounced on a Jason Saab fumble and bolted 12 metres to score the opener, then he crashed over from close range after an offload from Bulldogs fullback Connor Tracey. Yet Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo was more impressed with the tough carries and 27 tackles Hughes delivered during his 30 minutes than his tryscoring heroics. 'I thought his start to the game was really good, and his second stint,' Ciraldo said. 'He scored two tries and everyone sees that, but the stuff he's doing that front-rowers have to do, I thought he was brilliant at that.' Ciraldo said Hughes, who played all 25 games for Canterbury last season, was getting back to his best after undergoing ankle surgery earlier in the year. 'We missed him at the start of the year,' Ciraldo said. 'He had that syndesmosis injury and missed the first 12 weeks of the season. He was really good for us last year. 'He's just been building towards that. Last week it was hard to leave him out of the team … we wanted him to go back to NSW Cup and play big minutes. He went back and did that and totally deserved to come back into the team.' After the Bulldogs were knocked out in the opening round of the play-offs last year, they are on track for a top-two finish this season, and Hughes is confident they can do some damage in the finals. 'We're a different style of team, I reckon,' he said. 'We're real fit. We base our game [on] defence. You don't get picked in the team unless your defence is pretty good. So, yeah, we're a real defensive team, and I think that's what we'll need in those games.' It's a far cry from Hughes' debut season in 2023, when the Bulldogs won only seven games and finished third last. 'We got smashed [50-16] on my debut by the Bunnies on Anzac Day,' he recalled. 'That was one you don't want to really remember, but it was good, man. It was good to get out there [in the NRL].'
The Age
22-07-2025
- Sport
- The Age
Mann on a mission to become oldest Kangaroos debutant
He waited 12 seasons and more than 200 NRL games to make his State of Origin debut, becoming the oldest Queensland rookie since the late, great Arthur Beetson in 1980. Now, after helping the Maroons to a stunning series win, 32-year-old Kurt Mann is on track to belatedly realise another childhood dream by becoming the oldest player to debut for the Kangaroos. Canterbury coach Cameron Ciraldo believed Mann was the best utility player in the NRL when he signed him from Newcastle at the end of the 2023 season. His form since arriving at Belmore has only reaffirmed that opinion, with Ciraldo declaring Mann should 'definitely' be a candidate for Australia's three-Test series against England, which will be the Kangaroos' first Ashes tour in 22 years. 'I think they take 22 players over, and he'd be one of the first I'd choose,' Ciraldo said. If Mann plays during the Ashes series, which kicks at Wembley on October 25, he will become the oldest Kangaroos debutant – breaking a record that dates back 66 years. The only other player to have celebrated his 32nd birthday before first pulling on the green and gold was legendary hardman Billy Wilson, in 1959. If Mann is selected, he will be more than six months older than Wilson was at the time of his debut. Before his Queensland call-up this year, Mann wondered if age would count against him when it came to representative football.
