Flanagan’s play-the-ball splits the Tigers defence down the middle, leaving five defenders to cover seven Bulldogs players on the left-hand side of the field. Those five defenders are under pressure and fatigue having just made repeat defensive efforts, and they all work sideways off their line when Mahoney shifts it left again to Burton and Kikau.

The width of the pass from Mahoney and Burton compounds the issue for the Tigers as Kikau finds himself in space and with early ball. Presented with a sliding defensive line, Kikau bangs off his left foot and pops a pass back around the corner to Perham in support, icing an extremely well constructed try that began five tackles earlier.

Kikau’s threat as a ball runner is beginning to open up spaces for Burton to run it himself, too.

Adam Douiehi and John Bateman only have eyes for Kikau when Canterbury spread it here. Both defenders have turned out which invites Burton to hit the gas towards Bateman’s inside shoulder. Only a poor pass from Max King bombs another Bulldogs try in this action, but its something we’ll see more of in 2023 given Burton’s strength as a ball runner.

All in all, its promising signs for Ciraldo in his debut season as an NRL head coach. He has the Bulldogs playing out a simple yet effective gameplan as they work upfield, and in good-ball they are building towards a well balanced and varied attacking system. Mahoney is dictating terms from dummy-half, Flanagan is making some valuable contributions on the right edge and the Burton / Kikau combination is picking teams apart on the left.

We’ll keep our expectations measured until we see Canterbury win the grind against a more resilient opponent. They beat a poor Melbourne Storm outfit in Round 2 and made light work of the Tigers in Round 3, but neither opposition applied or absorbed pressure like the Cowboys, Eels or Rabbitohs will do in the coming weeks.