An Instagram burner account and the lure of free coffee paid for out of Cameron Ciraldo’s pocket are being used to motivate Canterbury’s players to break defensive records and long-standing try-scoring droughts.
Ciraldo’s unbeaten Bulldogs remain top of the NRL ladder after Good Friday’s 32-0 win over South Sydney.
The shut-out represented the first time in the club’s history the Bulldogs have kept two teams scoreless in back-to-back weeks, having beaten Newcastle 20-0 in their previous outing.
Each time Canterbury hold a team to nil, Ciraldo rewards his players, coaching team and office staff by hiring a coffee cart for the club’s Belmore training base.
Ciraldo reckons it sets him back $300 each time, with a devout Bulldogs fan giving him a favourable-discounted rate.
And winger Jacob Kiraz loves seeing his coach put his money where his mouth is.
“He’s on too much money, he’s not worried about that (the cost),” Kiraz joked.
“That’s two weeks in a row, he has to keep his promise.
“It was nice seeing that coffee van roll up the other week and it’ll be great to see it at training this week.”
Prop Max King broke the game’s longest try-scoring drought when he crossed in Friday’s win, ending an 80-match stretch.
Josh Curran celebrates a try. (Photo by Darrian Traynor/Getty Images)
But the happy-go-lucky front-rower isn’t a coffee drinker.
Instead of motivating him with caffeine, in-form prop King reckons Ciraldo has been using social media to push him to new heights.
“I woke up this morning and I was just on social media, and some sort of burner account was on there, spraying me, giving it to me, like; ‘You can’t even score a try’,” King said.
“I laughed at it and I actually told Ciro, I said to him, ‘Are you sure that’s not your burner account trying to fire me up to get a response?’
“He looked at me at halftime gave me a wink, and said, ‘It was me’.
“It’s something to laugh about but scoring a try in front of 65,000 and to celebrate in front of a crowd like that … I’m just a dude; that’s why I feel so blessed.
“In my eyes, I’m just a footballer running around on the big stage and I feel really blessed to be a part of it.”
Canterbury (6-0) face the Broncos away next week and head to Brisbane in top gear having put on a show in front of a new NRL record regular season crowd of 65,305 at Accor Stadium on Friday.
“It felt like finals and that’s a good thing for us, because we need to embrace it,” Kiraz said.
“If we want to be in those games at the end of the year, it’s a good thing we don’t let the pressure get to us.”
© AAP
