Canterbury winger Josh Addo-Carr has defended rookie coach Cameron Ciraldo and the culture at the club after weeks of turmoil and negative headlines around the embattled NRL side. Concerns over overly strict training methods from Ciraldo were placed under the microscope after a fringe Bulldogs squad member took mental-health leave after being made to wrestle a long line of teammates as punishment for arriving late to training.
Ciraldo has made no apologies for his tough approach to training and has been praised by Bulldogs general manager of football Phil Gould for his high levels of discipline. Widespread reports also emerged that Bulldogs players were divided over the wrestling punishment, training loads and the length of the club’s work days, sparking an angry response from club great Willie Mason, who labelled dissenting players “soft as s**t” on his podcast.
Ciraldo says he is keen to fix a culture that “is not right” at the club, which is set to undergo another player shake-up ahead of the 2024 season. Mason said Ciraldo was going to “weed out” the players who didn’t aim up for him, with the Bulldogs coach indicating he was only keen on retaining players who wanted to adapt to his demands.
