Phil Gould has thrown his full support behind Cameron Ciraldo, declaring the Bulldogs head coach as not only the right man for the job, but potentially the club's guiding figure for the next 30 years.
In an interview with Nine, the Bulldogs' general manager of football made it clear that he sees Ciraldo as a career coach who is already justifying the hype, and who is only getting started.
โIt was never a risk in my mind whatsoever,โ Gould said of appointing Ciraldo.
โWhen people said Cameron was a rookie coach, he wasn't really a rookie in my eyes.โ
Ciraldo was headhunted from Penrith after playing a key role in constructing the Panthers' now-famous defensive blueprint.
His arrival at Belmore came with a five-year contract and a clear mandate: rebuild a fractured club with one of the proudest histories in rugby league. That task came with immediate pain - the Bulldogs finished 15th in his debut season, offering more questions than answers on the field.
But Gould insists that what was happening behind the scenes was always more important.
Ciraldo was laying the groundwork for culture, cohesion and long-term success.
The results have since spoken for themselves. After returning to finals football in 2024 for the first time in eight years, Canterbury now sits atop the NRL ladder in 2025, shaping as genuine premiership contenders alongside Melbourne.
โHe's going to be a long-time coach. He will be a career coach,โ Gould said.
โI hope he's here for the next 30 years. When he came here, I said the Bulldogs needed the next 20-year coach and I said I think this is the bloke who can do the job.โ
While expansion talk continues around new NRL teams in Perth and Papua New Guinea, and speculation swirls about potential player raids, Gould remains unfazed.
โI've got no fear about losing players,โ he said.
โWe won't lose a player that we want to keep. None of our players want to leave either.โ
He credited that security to the internal standards and belief fostered under Ciraldo's leadership.
โThat's the culture that the coaches have created and the players amongst themselves,โ he said.
โWe haven't got one player here that wants to play somewhere else.โ
It's a stark contrast to the Bulldogs of a few years ago, who cycled through coaches and bled talent without ever settling.
For Gould, the turnaround is no accident. The man he identified as the club's long-term answer has not only weathered a difficult beginning, he's now leading the resurgence from the front.
The Bulldogs face the Roosters at Accor Stadium on Friday, with a chance to further underline their premiership credentials..
