While Canterbury fans were dancing in the streets getting caught up in the euphoria of their long-overdue rise to the top of the league, the Bulldogs coaching staff and senior players were seeing chinks in the armour that were being masked by the almost weekly collection of two competition points.
Most coaches are paralysed by the fear of failure. A fear of losing their jobs. Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo, however, has always adopted a philosophy of chasing success rather than avoiding failure.
He knows he has the backing of the club to build, or at least attempt to, an empire similar to the one he helped create alongside Ivan Cleary at the Panthers over many years at the foot of the mountains.
It’s the kind of reassurance that encourages a decision-making process that prioritises the long-term sustained success of the club over a smash-and-grab pursuit of a one-off premiership at any cost.
The kind of reassurance that instils a courage that stops you from offering an extension to your off-contract halfback that has led you to the top of the ladder if you don’t believe he can keep you there.
In the past seven weeks, the Super League-bound Sexton has not registered a single try assist for the Bulldogs.
Toby Sexton is departing the club at the end of the season.Credit: Getty Images
The six to his name in 2025 is one less than teammate and backrower Viliame Kikau has notched up this season. It’s also one less than what Parramatta fill-in halfback Dean Hawkins has amassed in half the games played.
Sexton has also failed to register a single line break in the entire 2025 season. He isn’t in the top 50 players in line break assists, all the while touching the ball more than any other half in the competition bar Isaiya Katoa, Nicho Hynes and Daly Cherry-Evans.
In the case of the Lachlan Galvin signing, you can debate how it happened, why it happened and for how long it may have been happening for. I’ve been there, done that.
But at the very core of the Bulldogs’ decision to sign Galvin was an unrelenting sense of scepticism of their premiership credentials with Sexton in the No.7 jersey. That scepticism was coming from inside the four walls at Belmore.
Top Dog: Cameron Ciraldo oversees Canterbury training.Credit: James Brickwood
Sexton is a popular member of the Canterbury team and has done a commendable job since his arrival last year.
But there’s a level of honesty that Ciraldo has driven in his two-and-a-half seasons at the helm that helps players differentiate between their personal feelings and the professional obligation to the football club they represent.
It’s why when Ciraldo approached several key senior players to discuss Canterbury’s attempts to lure Galvin out of Tiger Town, the players didn’t just give the coach their blessing; they encouraged the move.
Over the past month, Galvin has been adjusting to life as a Bulldog amidst a sea of criticism directed at both him for his contribution – or a perceived lack thereof – and the club for seemingly turning their show into a circus.
Lachlan Galvin brings X-factor to the Bulldogs.Credit: Getty Images
Will he play? Won’t he play? Where will he play? Why isn’t he playing? To be fair, the circus is a mere repercussion befitting the theatrics that saw him granted the desired mid-season release from Benji Marshall’s Tigers.
But Ciraldo has been biding his time. He did not want to expose his young prodigy during his team’s most vulnerable period.
The coach didn’t want to hand Galvin the keys to the castle during a period of the season interrupted by scheduled bye rounds and fixtures that would see the Bulldogs play without several key players due to the demands of State of Origin.
Ciraldo wanted to make sure when Galvin was given his first genuine opportunity, he was afforded the luxury of having the team’s biggest weapons by his side. Stephen Crichton is back, Kurt Mann is in the team and the Origin period is now firmly in the rearview mirror.
Canterbury’s premiership assault begins against the Dragons at Accor Stadium this weekend. The news cycle is predictable; the decision will be deemed a success or failure by 7.30pm on Saturday night.
Come back to me on Sunday, October 5.
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