At the Bulldogs, there’s coach Cameron Ciraldo’s way or the highway.

Bronson Xerri can count himself lucky he isn’t already on that highway. He’s only been sent to the back roads. For now.

It began with Xerri disgruntled at being moved to right centre over the summer with superstar captain Stephen Crichton moving to the left. It escalated over the weekend into a series of media leaks, social media posts and Sunday morning crisis meetings.

To fully explain what happened, we have to go back to the start.

Ciraldo coaches with a simple philosophy of hard work and teamwork, all built on a defensive system that is based on scenarios.

When the scenarios play out on the field, Ciraldo’s men are coached to instinctively go to plan “A, B or C”. Players are recruited, or let go, based on whether they can cope with the system and whether they can instinctively know which plan to go to.

Bronson Xerri playing for the Bulldogs against the Dragons in round one in Las Vegas.Credit: NRL Photos

The Bulldogs finished third on the ladder in 2025, only to lose two straight finals to Melbourne and Penrith. That followed a finals’ loss to Manly in 2024, meaning the Dogs haven’t won a post-season match under Ciraldo.

That stings, and he was never going to sit still. In the off-season, he moved Crichton to the left, along with winger Jacob Kiraz. That meant Xerri playing “second banana” to his skipper, around whom Ciraldo is building the whole club.

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