That Phil Gould had finally lost his marbles by signing a bunch of No.14s,trying to lift one of the game’s great clubs out of their seemingly perennial place in the NRL cellar?
Maybe,just maybe,Gould was onto something.
The term “small ball” is best associated with American sports. In basketball,coaches will often sacrifice height and strength for smaller and more agile players,capable of moving the ball quickly and able to transition at speed from defence to offence.
Ditto baseball,where managers will change their line-up to sacrifice power hitters capable of clearing the fences for more risk-averse types capable of reaching base,then using their speed around the diamond to pressure the pitching side.
Rugby league might be having its own smallball revolution.
The Bulldogs have gone from the worst defensive team in the competition to one of the best over summer.Getty
A few weeks ago,the NRL released a tranche of statistics straight out of Todd Greenberg’s #NRLtalkthegameup playbook.
According to head office,there have been more play-the-balls,quicker play-the-balls,more line-breaks and fewer three-man tackles this season. Translation:the game is bloody good fun to watch in 2024,but also edging towards warp speed.
Which is where Canterbury’s recruitment comes in. Outside of Stephen Crichton,a list including Kurt Mann,Drew Hutchison,Jaeman Salmon,Connor Tracey and Blake Taaffe is hardly one which screams top eight force.
Partly,Canterbury’s purchasing was born out of necessity owing to a threadbare player market,but it was also done with an eye to the future and how the Bulldogs expected patterns of play to evolve.
Cameron Ciraldo’s greatest challenge was always going to be weaving a bunch of multi-skilled players into an effective side. On that score,his coaching has more than stood up so far.
On Saturday,he started Hutchison at halfback,Mann at lock,Salmon in the back row,Taaffe at fullback,and another summer signing,Josh Curran,as one of the lightest front-rowers you’ll find (Tracey was injured). It’s a small team,but crucially,it’s also one of the most mobile.
Ciraldo made his name as the minister for defence at Penrith,and Gould warned him of the perils of joining the Bulldogs as head coach last year,rather than this one.
“This is a trip down the mines,” he told him.
He was right. In 2023,the Bulldogs had the worst defence in the NRL. Ciraldo was gutted. But one third of the way through this campaign,they trail only the top three sides – the Sharks,Storm and Panthers – in points conceded per game.
Yet there’s one area where they are even better than those three sides.
While still in the market for a game-changing prop and lacking size in the middle,the Bulldogs’ speedy defensive line is limiting the attacking run metres of opposition sides better than anyone else.
Canterbury Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has turned his club’s defence around in one summer.Kate Geraghty
According to Champion Data,heading into this round,their rivals were averaging 1468 metres per game – far and away better than the NRL’s usual standard-setters Penrith (1521). Despite having one of the smallest packs in the competition,the Bulldogs’ side is swarming opponents by quickly rushing off their defensive line and meeting ball runners earlier than anyone else.
Against the Tigers,the Bulldogs held Benji Marshall’s main forward metre-eaters Stefano Utoikamanu (82) and David Klemmer (87) to some of their most ineffective games of the season. That was despite Ciraldo willingly playing small men Reed Mahoney and utility Bailey Hayward in the middle at the same time for a period of the game.
It’s usually an invitation for opposition teams to “spot up” – or target – the little men manning the middle of the field,but what they lack in size,Canterbury is making up for in speed to stop the big men winding up.
What is even more impressive about the Bulldogs’ new-found defensive resolve is they are the second worst when it comes to overall possession (opponents average 51.5 per cent per game) and miss more tackles (35.9 per game) than any other team. But their speed and scrambling is exemplary.
So,are the Bulldogs finally back?
For the first time in a very long time and thousands of dark days since Des Hasler left the club,they actually look a team whichmight play finals. This week,Ciraldo will return to Penrith to take on the high-flying Panthers,a team far more experienced and far bigger than his own.
But as he will say,it’s not necessarily about the size of the dog in the fight,but the size (and speed) of the fight in the dog.
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