The Bulldogs' 2026 season has come to a disappointing end, with Canterbury falling 34-20 to the Brisbane Broncos at Accor Stadium on Thursday night.
After reaching the finals in 2024 and finishing third last season, the Bulldogs were unable to secure a return to September football in 2026, ending their campaign with another frustrating performance.
Despite being handed a significant opportunity when Broncos forward Payne Haas was sin-binned for 10 minutes, Canterbury failed to capitalise on their one-man advantage.
The Bulldogs conceded a try in this period, although they were able to cross through Lachlan Galvin during the period.
It was ultimately an error-filled night from Canterbury, with the Bulldogs making 16 errors and missing 46 tackles as Brisbane ran away with the contest.
Coach Cameron Ciraldo was left devastated by the performance, admitting he expected more from his side in front of a home crowd.
“I'm shattered,” he admitted in the post-match press conference.
“It's been tough.
“Poor errors and no patience.
“We'll go into review and plan pre-season next week, but everything we did this week was about getting our best performance tonight, and I'm shattered we didn't,” Ciraldo said post-match.
“I thought we had a lot to play for considering we're back at home.
“It's been a tough year, but we wanted to finish the season really strong.
“We had 13,00 loyal fans turn up tonight, and I expected us to put in our best performance of the year, and we were a long way off that.”
The Bulldogs' start ultimately proved costly, with Ciraldo frustrated by the way his side surrendered early opportunities.
“I thought we prepared well. I thought we were ready for our best performance and didn't start right,” Ciraldo said.
“To give up two tries the way we did off just poor errors and no patience. Then we clawed our way back, but that second half probably summed up our year.
“We have these periods in the game where we just stop putting pressure on the opposition and put pressure on ourselves and give up easy tries from kicks.”
Captain Stephen Crichton echoed his coach's disappointment, admitting the Bulldogs had been unable to finish the season on the note they wanted.
“Very disappointing. Probably not the year that we wanted a lot of up and down,” captain Stephen Crichton continued.
“But like the coach said, we still had a lot to play for, with a few boys leaving, and that to leave it on a better note, but it just wasn't meant to be.”
The Bulldogs will now say farewell to a host of players including Bronson Xerri, Josh Curran, Lipoi Hopoi and Jonathan Su'a, whilst a handful of others remain off contract for next season.
