The Canterbury-Bankstown Bulldogs' dramatic fall from grace continued on Friday night, suffering a 38-16 defeat to the Cronulla-Sutherland Sharks in the Magic Round opener.
After conceding 30 points in a disastrous first half, the Bulldogs showed signs of fight after the break, crossing for two tries and limiting the Sharks to just one, but the damage had already been done.
Several moments summed up the Bulldogs' nightmare outing, including young playmaker Lachlan Galvin dropping the ball over the try line after a break through the defensive line.
However, the moment commentator Andrew Voss labelled the “worst moment of the season” came when Sharks hooker Hohepa Puru scooped the ball up from dummy-half on the line to score.
The try truly epitomised the Bulldogs' dramatic defensive decline from last year's impressive standards.
Despite the horror of the opening 40 minutes, Bulldogs coach Cameron Ciraldo admitted it was difficult to explain exactly what went wrong.
“I can't, it's hard to explain,” Ciraldo said.
“There were some very ugly moments, but I think the possession was like 65-35 against us at that time.
“If I want to make an excuse, maybe it was fatigue, but it'd be bulls**t anyway. We need to do better.
“The reality is, defence is all about attitude, and we're very good for long periods defensively, and then we take a moment off, or we have an individual take a moment off, and it's hurting.”
Ciraldo said the performance was even more frustrating given he believed parts of the Bulldogs' game were actually working well.
”There was a lot we were doing right in the first half. It sounds silly when you let in 30 points, but the stats were really even. Run meters, line breaks, tackle breaks," he said.
“Kick diffusal, though, was just way off where it needed to be. That gave the Sharks possession and field position.
“They've been a good team at that sort of stuff for a long time, and we made it hard on ourselves.”
Ciraldo cut a defeated figure in the post-match press conference, joined by captain Stephen Crichton following his 150th NRL appearance.
When questioned about State of Origin selection, Crichton admitted his focus remains solely on improving Canterbury's performances.
“I haven't really spoken to him (Daley) or haven't really thought of it,” Crichton said.
“I've just been thinking about my performances with the Dogs, and like we always say, you perform well at club land, you get those calls.”
The loss leaves the Bulldogs sitting 13th on the ladder with just three wins and seven losses, with pressure mounting after another disappointing defensive display.
In positive news, Bulldog's Jacob Preston scored the first try for his team, along with three tackle breaks, one line break and 40 tackles with only one missed. The star second-rower is expected to be among a handful of debutants in Daley's Game 1 Blues squad.
For the Sharks, their win was made sweeter with the long-awaited return of Ronaldo Mulitalo from an ACL injury, who crossed the line for a double.
The Sharks will join another six teams for a bye next weekend, whilst the Bulldogs will face a hungry Melbourne Storm.
