Ciraldo praises Bulldogs’ “evolution” following their 66-0 defeat of the Knights, saying, “Was a dark day for us.”

How quickly the game is altered. Newcastle defeated Canterbury 66-0 in July of last year; the Knights are now having trouble after Canterbury defeated them 36-12. It was a moment in the past that head coach Cameron Ciraldo would prefer to forget, but it now stands in the club’s history alongside their 52–6 NSW Cup victory over Newcastle.

When it came to the round 18 concealment at Homebush, Ciraldo noted, “I didn’t want to talk too much about last year.”

We had a terrible day, but since I believe we were missing 12 players that day, I didn’t want to bring it up right away. Having said that, even though we were excited in both classes, it was a difficult period. Thus, the fact that both grades have improved indicates that we are producing some very exceptional students. The Bulldogs moved up to 12th place in the standings with their third victory of the year, and with a bye and Wests Tigers up next, hope is growing.

“We have a few guys that performed exceptionally well in reserve grade today,” Ciraldo remarked. “Then, there are encouraging signals there as Jacob Preston and Kurt Mann are prepared to return following the bye.