It’s going to be an historic weekend for the Canterbury Bulldogs as Cameron Ciraldo’s men prepare to face Manly for the first time since being knocked out of the 2024 NRL final series.
But according to two Bulldogs stars, exacting revenge against Daly Cherry-Evans and Co—after giving up a 22-12 second half lead last September—is just one of many reasons for the Belmore army to be fired up for Round 21.
To commemorate thirty years since the club’s 1995 Grand Final victory over Manly at the old SFS, the Canterbury home game will be played at Allianz Stadium with many premiership-winning old boys in attendance including Terry ‘Baa’ Lamb who spoke with the Bulldogs squad earlier in the week.
If that isn’t enough to get blue and white blood pumping, there’s also the small matter of the Bulldogs chasing their 1000th first-grade win since the club’s inception back in 1935.
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‘We don’t forget that stuff’
Canterbury winger and NSW State of Origin squad member Jacob Kiraz spoke of the significance of this weekend’s occasion, and revealed it was being used as added motivation to reverse last year’s finals result.
“It definitely makes things a bit tastier, especially after we lost against them in the semis,” Kiraz said.
“We don’t forget that stuff and we can’t wait, all the old boys will be there, it will be a good experience.”
‘We’ve watched that game back a couple of times’
Kiraz’s hard-working Bulldogs teammate Bailey Hayward shared similar views, acknowledging the side had been stung by last year’s loss.
“We all know how much it hurt (losing the semi final to Manly), we all have that pain inside and I’m sure some of the boys will be using it as fuel for this game,” Hayward said.
“We fell short, but we’ve taken a lot of good lessons from that.
“We’ve watched that game back a couple of times, we know what we need to do and we’ll be ready this weekend.”
Should the Bulldogs top the Sea Eagles on Sunday, they will become just the third club in history to register 1,000 first-grade victories, behind foundation clubs the Roosters (1,269 victories) and Rabbitohs (1,191 victories).