Nathan Cleary leads Penrith to 46-26 victory over Bulldogs, Cameron Ciraldo defends mass changes
There will be plenty of detailed analysis into what happened to the Bulldogs in 2025, but their coach was crystal clear when asked if he would do anything differently in a rollercoaster season.
Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo made some massive changes to his side in the second half of the year, but he insists he wouldn’t change a thing after Canterbury’s season came to a grinding halt with a straight sets exit from the finals.
The Bulldogs were blown off the park in the first half by the Panthers who showed their premiership pedigree to cruise to a 20-point win at Accor Stadium.
“That first half is a pretty painful lesson for us for the future,” Ciraldo said after his side headed to the sheds down 36-8.
“We ran into a champion team that knows exactly what it takes to win these big games. They were near perfect and we were off the mark in the first half.”
The Bulldogs looked like a premiership contender after 16 rounds when they sat on top of the table with an 11-2 record and the best defensive record, but things fell away after some bold calls to shake up the spine.
Mid-season recruit Lachlan Galvin replaced Toby Sexton at halfback while Bailey Hayward came in for hooker Reed Mahoney, with the Bulldogs losing five of their final six matches as their attack struggled for potency.
The Bulldogs copped intense scrutiny for the changes, but Ciraldo has no issues with the path they went down.
“I wouldn’t change a thing. This is all part of the journey,” he declared.
“There have been some tough times this year where our guys have had to deal with a lot more scrutiny than probably some other places.
“The way they’ve stuck together and handled it and kept building a really strong culture, I’m incredibly proud.
“Our season was weird because we were coming first but we’d had a couple of byes that helped us sit in that position. We played a lot of top quality opposition in the second half of the year.
“This is the first year that our club has had to go through the Origin period with a lot of players involved in a long time, so that’s another part of our learning, and then we had injuries at different times that didn’t help us.
“I know what some of the headlines will be, but internally we’re really clear on how this season panned out, what was good and what we need to do better. Today was a massive lesson in that.”
No one in the NRL was as heavily scrutinised as Galvin from the moment he left the Wests Tigers, with the focus unlikely to shift in the off-season given Mahoney and Sexton are leaving the club.
There were times when he really struggled to fit into their system, but on a day when little went right, Galvin was their best attacking weapon with a try and a couple of assists as he and Jacob Preston found some space out wide.
“We didn’t need any vindication or validation in what we’re doing. We know what we’re doing and we’re really confident in what we’re doing,” Ciraldo said.
“For Lachie to go out there and attack the game the way he did, I thought he was one of our top players out there and I thought Bailey Hayward was one of our top players when he got on the field.
“For those two guys in particular to come out and be two of our best on the big stage under the most pressure says a lot about their character in terms of how much crap they had to deal with this week from external opinions.
“Those two guys are tough characters who are going to play a massive part in our future.”
MATCH REPORT: BULLDOGS V PANTHERS
Penrith’s quest for five is very much alive after the defending premiers produced the most ruthless half of footy in recent memory to knock the Bulldogs out of the finals with a performance that will have the remaining three sides quivering in their boots.
The Panthers have dominated the NRL for the past five seasons but Sunday’s demolition job was on another level as they obliterated the Bulldogs 46-26 thanks to the most lopsided first half in finals history.
The premiers left the 56,872 fans at Accor Stadium in disbelief as they walked up the tunnel leading 36-8 thanks to a Nathan Cleary masterclass and some classy moments from halves partner Blaize Talagi who has made the left edge his own.
This is the same team that was anchored to the foot of the table after 12 rounds which prompted chat that the dynasty was over, but they are fully fit, playing on another level and looking like a team that could win the next 15 titles.
There are some concerns going forward with gun centre Casey McLean coming off with a shoulder injury, Brad Schneider was put on report for a cannonball tackle, while Liam Martin hobbled up the tunnel with a rib injury in the dying minutes.
CLEARY AND PRESENT DANGER
Bow down to the king.
Cleary’s fingerprints were all over this blitzkrieg with the champion halfback bowing to the crowd after he backed up a Paul Alamoti break to score their third try.
That was after 21 minutes, with Penrith crossing three more times before the break as their bench forwards pounced on grubber kicks to kill off the contest.
It was a simply perfect half of footy with the Panthers completing all 20 of their sets, with Alamoti scoring a hat-trick against his former side with a powerhouse performance on the right edge to justify Ivan Cleary’s call to bring him back last week.
And while Cleary had the highlight plays – including a 40/20 to start the second half – Talagi played a key role in several tries and rushed out to force two crucial errors with his defence.
No team can match them if they play like this, although the Broncos will have something to say about that when they host them on Sunday with Reece Walsh in the form of his life.
ORIGINAL SIN
The Bulldogs might want to be the next Panthers, but they found out they still have a long way to go.
They were always long odds to win when former Panther Stephen Crichton was ruled out with a foot injury, and not even an early Viliame Kikau charge down could spark something with Dylan Edwards lucky to not spend 10 minutes in the sin bin.
Canterbury’s early season success was built on the back of their defence, but they missed 42 tackles in the first half alone and offered very little in attack, with a rare break ending up in a To’o intercept which led to an Alamoti try one play later.
SLIDING DOORS
The Bulldogs were top of the table after 12 rounds when the Panthers were coming last, and they were still there four weeks later with an 11-2 record and the best defensive record.
But they only won five matches after that before they were bundled out of the finals in straight sets, with the post-mortem to focus on big changes made by Cameron Ciraldo to his spine.
The decision to bring Lachlan Galvin in for Toby Sexton at halfback was the most scrutinised move of the year, while Ciraldo also dumped Reed Mahoney and brought Bailey Hayward in at hooker.
Both Sexton and Mahoney started on Sunday but registered zero runs between them in the opening 64 minutes, with Mahoney conceding a sloppy penalty for a forearm in the ruck which led to a To’o try.
Galvin has had a mixed few months since leaving the Wests Tigers but was their only shining light in attack with a try and two assists as he combined well with Jacob Preston on the right.
The path forward seems clear with Mahoney and Sexton both on the way out, but Canterbury’s attack will be a huge talking point in the opening rounds next year.
RE-LIVE ALL THE BIG MOMENTS BELOW.
Originally published as Nathan Cleary leads Penrith to 46-26 victory over Bulldogs, Cameron Ciraldo defends mass changes
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