Brutal reality check puts Bulldogs in their place as Sea Eagles dominate

The Canterbury Bulldogs' much-vaunted new signings have failed to make an impact as the Sea Eagles had a day out at Brookvale.

Mahoney tried his hardest. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Cameron Ciraldo will never forget his first match as a full-time first grade coach — but unfortunately for all the wrong reasons.

The Canterbury coach’s charges were blown off the park in a 31-6 thrashing in the second half of their clash against the Manly Sea Eagles as Daly Cherry-Evans scored his first career hat-trick.

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The Dogs worked hard early and were 6-all until just before halftime when an “outrageous” sin bin flipped the game on its head.

From there, Cherry-Evans and Tom Trbojevic ran rampant, running in two tries during the sin bin and two tries including an intercept at full-time.

A fit Tom Trbojevic looms as a daunting prospect for any side as he looks to rediscover the form which won him the 2021 Dally M Medal.

While Trbojevic was at times tentative about going full speed, he played a huge part as the Sea Eagles tore the Bulldogs apart.

For the Bulldogs, who welcomed big names such as Viliame Kikau and Reed Mahoney in 2023 as well as highly-touted former Panthers assistant Ciraldo, it was a tough reality check for the side.

It was hard to watch for Ciraldo. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

Mahoney tried his hardest. Photo by Cameron Spencer/Getty Images

With the influx of new troops, it was always going to take a little time for the combinations to gel but star five-eighth Matt Burton was off his game in the season-opener.

Poor last tackle decisions including one which ended with bizarrely Kikau kicking out on the full as well as poor set up to give Burton the best shot were common throughout the day.

“That’s ridiculous from the Bulldogs,” Fox League’s Michael Ennis said after Kikau’s first half kick.

“Matt Burton’s got the longest boot in the competition, it was his chance to stand up and drive it down the field and they can just cop their medicine. Instead he gets the ball out to Kikau to get it away and they turn it over.

“They have to be better the Bulldogs halves.”

In the second half, it got no better.

“Their thought process around their attack to start this second half is bewildering,” Ennis said.

“No doubt Cameron Ciraldo is frustrated.”

As the Sea Eagles piled on the points, the Bulldogs had no answers.

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And to rub it in, the press conference was delayed as the 4 Pines Park walls were so thin the Sea Eagles team song echoed through the media room.

After the match, Ciraldo said the Bulldogs fell short in several areas.

“We definitely made it hard for ourselves,” Ciraldo said.

“Our completions weren’t where we needed them to be and where we gave them the ball wasn’t where we planned to.

“I thought we showed a real lot of grit there at times. I was happy with a lot of things out there today but we obviously made it really hard on ourselves against a team that was really committed.

“We had some good performers out there today but we need to be better.”

Ciraldo said it would take some time for the spine to gel with fullback Hayze Perham and hooker Mahoney new to the side.

“We lacked cohesion at times (but) we had three debutants today, five guys making their club debut,” Ciraldo said. “We’re going to be better every week but today there were things we didn’t do well and that’s unacceptable for us moving forward.”

Originally published as Brutal reality check puts Bulldogs in their place as Sea Eagles dominate