Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo has blasted his troops for their poor attitude following their eight try massacre at the hands of the Sharks.
Missing an alarming total of 52 tackles, Ciraldo says Canterbury are leaving their captain Reed Mahoney out to dry as the dummy-half is getting little to no help from his forward pack.
Though the skipper refuses to throw his team under the bus, it's clear an "embarrassed" Mahoney needs more help from his brothers in the blue-and-white.
Though a spine shake up may be on the cards at Canterbury, Ciraldo says the bye week will cement his spine following yet another fullback experiment during the demolition where Jake Averillo returned to his former spot at the back.
"We got a week of training next week to sort it out, we can't keep doing the same thing" Ciraldo said.
"We all know what they're capable of, but it's been a tough two weeks."
Bulldogs director of football Phil Gould also chimed in via Twitter to praise the Sharks on their efforts but more interestingly to publicly note his disappointment in his side and the desperate need for some returning players.
@NRL_Bulldogs completely outmuscled. Not much went their way early and got behind in the pace of the game, but clearly dominated by a more experienced, physical and skilful team. Some very disappointing efforts and poor discipline at times certainly didn’t help. In desperate need…
— Phil Gould (@PhilGould15) June 18, 2023
Without a doubt down on troops, the Bulldogs were without Matt Burton and Josh Addo-Carr who are both out on Origin duty and have a hefty injury list including key forwards including Viliame Kikau and Luke Thompson.
With a bye next week Ciraldo says physically the side could do without it, though to it comes at a good time to review their performances after conceding 107 points in their last 3 games.
"Gives us a chance to go back to basics and work on the stuff thats letting us down in games" Ciraldo said.
"56 or something missed tackles again, clearly we need to work on that at the moment, but like I said before the game that's an attitude thing.
"We can easily say lets find another system and accept mediocrity but we're not going to do that."
The Bulldogs will face the Knights in Sydney following the bye as they look to avoid the spoon with last-placed Tigers just one win short of the struggling side.
